Danganronpa: The Penultimate Students
by Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera
Summary: Sixteen high school students find themselves on a remote island with no means of escape. Monokuma, the head of the "Talent Camp for Penultimate Students" declares if they wish to escape, they must kill a classmate without being caught. The only other person on the island is the camp's "Guidance Counselor." Can he, or anyone, be trusted? And so the mystery begins... (SYOC Closed)
1. Prelude

_Dear Nori,_

 _What do you do when you have a talent, but no one recognizes it? I think I'm a pretty good singer, but my parents never pay attention when I tell them and say its a waste of time to pursue it. There isn't a choir or anything at my school, but I know I'm a good singer. I think I could get really good, maybe even famous! But with no on supporting me, I don't know if I should pursue it or not? What good is being talented if no one else cares?_

 _Thanks,_

 _A singer (maybe)_

Reijirou Saiki stared at the letter on his cheap laptop screen. He'd been thinking about how to answer this letter for a while. Technically, he didn't even have to answer this question; it wasn't one that his editor had chosen to published for the advice column, but Reijirou had long since decided he didn't like leaving these people hanging for advice. _What kind of counselor would I be if I left them with no answers?_ He thought.

Although, Reijirou wasn't a counselor yet. He was halfway through his senior year at university, but he knew he'd also need to get certified before he could actually start practicing. And before he could even do that, he'd need to pay of his debts. That was also why he had started university late. And why he'd taken this job as an advice columnist. The pay wasn't great, but it was just enough that he could send a little towards the mounting hospital bills and student loan payments. The rest, plus the salary from the convenience store, went to regular bills and food.

Honestly though, Reijirou liked the job. Even if it was remote, he felt like he was helping people. Most of the askers were teens, and despite being a teen not very long ago, his thoughts almost always drifted back to, _I wanna help these kids. All of them._

And so he typed away, getting ready to post on his 'super secret blog,' where he responded to letters that didn't make to the paper. Of course, he couldn't include the original letter (privacy and legal issues), but he could include the signed name and hope, who ever the sender was, they found his advice.

 _To a singer (maybe),_

 _I could tell you that whether people appreciate your talent doesn't matter and you should just do you regardless! But, I doubt that'd be helpful. Even for adults, not being appreciated for the work you do is hard, and tiring. I would know, trust me._

He paused. Honestly it was less that he was unappreciated and more that he got a rough start on his career. He'd get to be a counselor...eventually. He deleted the sentence anyway.

 _My advice then is to find the people that appreciate you. No choir at your school? Start a singing club! Or find a group outside of school, a local choir or a cafe with open mic nights. If you or any of your friends can play an instrument, upload covers to the internet. You will probably get some flack at first, but if you keep working to improve, you will find your audience. And hopefully, if you can show your parents your dedication to your skill, they'll learn to appreciate it._

 _Stay strong,_

 _Nori_

Reijirou smiled as he clicked the upload button and stretched his arms high above his head. He got up from his swivel chair, yawning; he had a morning class tomorrow, so he ought to go to bed. _I really should have gone to bed hours ago. Its 2 AM. Why didn't I answer letters during dinner, like a sensible person—_

A sudden knock at the door broke his train of thought. _Who could that be, this late?_ He thought as he wandered over to the apartment door and looked through the peephole. It was a middle aged lady in her house slippers, holding some kind of package. He didn't recognize her, but she must be a neighbor. It was a big apartment building; there's no way he could know everyone. Still a little wary, Reijirou left the chain locked and opened the door a crack.

"What is it?" he said quietly, hoping not to wake the neighbors.

"You're Reijirou Saiki right?" The woman said, gesturing slightly to the name beside the door. "I think I got your mail." She held up the package again.

"Oh…" Reijirou slowly shut the door and undid the chain lock. The package was too big to fit through the crack. He opened the door again with a sluggish tug and a yawn. "Thanks I guess. I wasn't expecting a _—_ " He never finished his sentence because the woman grabbed his wrist and painfully turned it behind his back.

Suddenly something was covering his face. It took a full second for his sleep addled brain to realize what was happening. He struggled against the woman's grip on his arm and face, but his already sleepy movements were becoming slower. "Shit! Shit let… go of…" Black swam in the corners of his vision and his eyes became heavy. And all the while the woman said nothing. _No no no no! Why?_ Panic filled his mind even as his thoughts slowed down. _Why...I haven't...I'm not...important enough for this…_

That was his last complete thought before Reijirou lost consciousness.

* * *

Reijirou shifted in the hard wooden chair to get a better position for his head on top of his folded arms on the desk. _I'm gonna have a crick in my neck again from sleeping while working, I know it—_ Except, the chair at Reijirou's deck wasn't wooden. Suddenly awake, Reijirou sat up and jumped out of the chair, panting slightly. He looked around in shock and slowly dawning dread. _This isn't my apartment._

The room he stood in had dark wooden walls, like a cabin he had seen in an American movie once. The sofa on one wall was ratty and well used, and on the opposite wall was a half filled bookshelf. The top shelves help well worn books, but the lower ones held a first aid kit, a length of rope, and various rustic wilderness themed nicknacks, including what looked like a stuffed moose that had seen better days. The desk he'd been sleeping on was mostly bare, just a lamp, a few pencils, an outdated looking tablet, and a name plate. He quickly walked around the desk to see what it said, noticing the other char in front of the desk first before staring in shock at the nameplate.

 _Reijirou Saiki, Guidance Counselor_

"What the hell?" he said. What had happened before he blacked out? Had someone hired him while he was blackout drunk or something? He rarely went drinking, but maybe he had blown off some steam...No, he remembered being at home, he went to answer the door, and then _—_

 _A woman's face— pain in his wrist— something on his face he couldn't_ breath _—_ _blackness panic need to stay awake, fight, do something!— fading away..._

"Holy shit I've been kidnapped." His breath was coming quicker now and he slowly bent down to huddle on his knees, and once again his thoughts turned to why. Why would someone do this? _Breath, Reijirou, you gotta breath, remember your training for this!_ But it was much harder to talk himself out of a panic attack than someone else.

He had almost gotten his breathing settled when he heard a strange click from above him. He looked up and saw an old TV mounted behind his desk had just clicked on. And on the screen was…?

"Upupupu! Man, I didn't realize you'd be such a crybaby. Then again, you therapists are usually touchy-feely types, so what would I know?"

It was...a bear. A half black half white stuffed teddy bear, sitting at his own desk with what looked like an orange martini in his hand. And it was talking.

He slowly stood up. "What the…? A TV show?"

The bear's expression shifted to one of anger. "I'm not just some show! I'm Monokuma!"

Reijirou's eyes widened. It responded. It wasn't prerecorded.

"Uh, this a Jigsaw type thing, right?" _Dammit why am I making jokes right now?_ "Like, so I don't know your identity or something? Wait, that's not important; did you kidnap me?! Why? What the hell do you want?!"

Somehow with so few facial features this 'Monokuma' managed to look smug. "I am indeed the one behind your current situation. As for what I want, I thought the office should have made that obvious! You're gonna work for me as the guidance counselor of this fine establishment!"

Reijirou frowned. "Oh right, and you needed to kidnap someone for this perfectly legal establishment." _Seriously why am I antagonizing my kidnapper; he could kill me!_ He took a slow breath to calm himself, and continued, "I'm assuming this offer is non-negotiable?"

"Oh yeah, there are no boats on the island, so you're stuck here and if you don't do your job and follow the rules, you'll receive punishment! In that way you aren't too different from your students. Not that they can know that. Gotta have the two of us 'staff' appear united and all that." Monokuma sipped from his martini.

Biting back the urge to ask how he can drink anything, Reijirou shifted through what information the bear had just revealed before asking, "So what is this 'establishment,' and who are my students? What exactly do you want me to do?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Behind Monokuma appeared what looked like a map of a small island, dotted in forests and small buildings, all surrounded what Reijirou assumed must be a fence. "This here is the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students! A remote, isolated island where those with talents that are not quite up to snuff will learn and grow together in harmony…" Monokuma's half grin seemed to grow wider. "...indefinitely."

Reijirou's stomach dropped. "Indefinitely? You can't keep everyone here indefinitely! We'll run out of food!" He put aside the weird name of the camp for now. He'd deal with whatever the heck a 'penultimate student' was later.

"Don't worry about that!" said Monokuma, "I've been preparing for a long time; there's enough food to last for months, maybe even years! And I doubt you all will be here that long. Someone will graduate."

"Huh? Graduate? There's a way out?" That made no sense; why kidnap him and however many kids, ( _Oh God how many of them are there? How old? I'm only 23 I can't take care of a bunch of kids…),_ just to give them a way to escape?

Monokuma waggled his finger. "There is indeed! But you'll have to wait for the details just like your students! You may be an employee, but never forget I'm the one running the show! Now in just a few minutes your 16 students will start waking up in their cabins! You should take this time to look over their profiles in the Monopad I have graciously provided for you! In about an hour we will be meeting in the mess hall for formal introductions! You better not be late."

Reijirou stiffly picked up the tablet on the desk and turned it on, still processing this whole situation. 16 students. He was the only adult among 16 students and a mad man hiding behind a robot teddy bear. First he checked for a phone or messaging app, but there was no signal or WiFi, of course. He opened the app labelled 'Student Profiles,' and 16 names popped up in a list. Beside each name was an age, all between 15 and 17. _Highschoolers. Okay, I think I can deal with teens._ What caught his attention was the last part of each entry. It seemed each student had some kind of title; 'Penultimate' something or other.

"What does it mean to be a 'Penultimate'?" he asked, coughing before adding cautiously, "I mean, I want to uh, do my best possible job, so I should know whatever I can about my students…"

Clapping his hands Monokuma said, "A 'Penultimate' is someone who has a special talent that has not reached its highest potential! Maybe their talent is unappreciated or unrecognized, or they have the passion but not quite enough skill, or plenty of skill but no drive to pursue it! They are all here so that, with our help, they can grow to become proper 'Ultimates'!"

 _Ultimates? Why does that sound familiar?_ Reijirou shook off the the thought; he'd consider it later. "And how will they do that?"

"Upupupu!" Monokuma laughed long and hard before cheering, "By playing The Killing Game of course!" And just as suddenly as it had turned on, the TV monitor shut off again with a click of static.

Staring at the TV monitor, the absolute horror of this situation suddenly crashed down on him. He was trapped on an unknown island with no way off, trapped with 16 teenagers, forced by a crazy person to kill each other. _This can't be real. This has to be a dream_ , he thought desperately. Reijirou bit his lip. There was no time for denial. These kids would be scared; he needed to support them. But how could he when this bear insisted they were both 'staff' at this hell camp? "I'll figure it out," he said out loud, mostly to himself. "I'm not gonna let this happen if I can help it. What kind of counselor would I be if I sat by and let kids die?"

Filled with new determination, Reijirou looked down at the profiles again.

 _Shiori Miura, 16, Penultimate Writer_

 _Remy Lander, 16, Penultimate Animal Photographer..._

He took a breath, clicked on the first profile, and began to read.

* * *

 _Hello everyone, and welcome to_ Danganronpa: The Penultimate Students _. I'm Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera, or just Glass-Lady. I had this story idea for a while and I figured the best way to do it would be a SYOC type story._

 _There are two main "twists" to this story that I hope you will find interesting. The first is the concept of the "Penultimate" students of the title. As mentioned in the chapter itself, "Penultimates" are teens with talents that, for one reason or another, fall just short of being truly "Ultimate." They might be unrecognized, or unable to get more training or publicity because of lack of resources. They might be truly enthusiastic but only somewhat talented, or they might be extremely talented but never pursue that talent for one reason or another. That is what it means to be a "Penultimate," and this story will hopefully explore the concept in more detail._

 _The second "twist" is Reijirou Saiki himself, or rather his role as the camp's "Guidance Counselor." The exact details of his role will be revealed later, but the presence of an adult among the students, even if that adult works for Monokuma, will change the nature of the situation in many interesting ways, I believe. I'm a sucker for found family tropes, but whether or not any of the students will come to trust Reijirou over the course of the Killing will be a focus of the story as well. In fact, the point of view for this story will alternate between Reijirou and one of the students, Shiori Miura._

 _Now onto the Guidelines:_

1\. " _Mary Sues/Gary Stus": I don't need perfect characters for this story. Please feel free to have fun with your super awesome character who saves everyone in your own work, but for this story I need more realistic characters, with both flaws and strengths, and interesting quirks to their personalities._

 _2\. I am alright with talents that are similar to canon talents, although not exactly the same. Especially no Lucky/Unlucky Students, Unknown talents or Detectives please._

 _3\. Please submit by PM only. Any characters submitted by review will be ignored._

 _4\. Please title your submission as follows: The Penultimate Students - [character name & talent]. This way I can keep track of submissions. If you find you need to split your submission into two parts please label those as well._

 _5\. I would like most of the characters to be Japanese. I will possibly accept one more foreign character._

 _6\. You may submit up to two characters, but I will only choose one per person._

 _7\. Please be understanding if your character is not chosen. There are only so many slots._

 _I will be accepting **7 boys and 7 girls**. Shiori and Remy will fill out the cast (thanks to my good real life Danganronpa friends raeolu and starinherwake on twitter for your characters!) The deadline will be in two weeks, **May 1**. If I don't get enough submissions in that time I may extent the deadline, and will post an update if that happens so you can know. Below is the application form, which you can also find on my profile page. I will also be posting a list of submitted talents there that I will do my best to keep updated. I hope you have fun with this premise and create some wonderful characters!_

* * *

SYOC Form (please delete anything in parentheses when turning in)

Name: (plus any nicknames)

Gender/pronouns:

Sexuality:

Talent:

Height:

Weight:

Birthday:

Age:

Nationality/Race:

Appearance: (physical)

Clothes:

Voice:

Personality: (1-2 paragraphs. How they present themselves to others and how they are around those they are close to. What traits define their behavior? What are their strengths? Weaknesses? Generally what makes them tick.)

Backstory: (about 1-2 paragraphs. What events/circumstances made them become who they are now? How did they discover their "Penultimate" talent, and why do they fall short of being a "True Ultimate"?)

Family/Friends: (who are the most important people in your character's life, the ones who had the most impact on them, for good or bad?)

Likes: (3 to 5 please)

Dislikes: (as above)

Hobbies: (what do they do outside their talent?)

Habits/Quirks:

Pet Peeves:

Speech patterns: (How do they speak?)

Greatest Fear:

Greatest Secret:

Greatest Wish:

Traits of people they would like:

Traits of people they would dislike:

Romance: (open to it? If so, traits of someone they might pursue romantically)

Murderer, Victim, or Survivor?: (Rank them in order of most to least likely)

Why/why not murderer: (please include at least one reason both why and why not)

Why/why not victim:

Why/why not survivor:

Reaction to Killing Game:

Reaction to the Guidance Counselor: (How do they react to the idea of an adult being around? Do they trust him as an authority figure, or they distrust him because he works for Monokuma)

Reaction to death of a classmate:

Reaction to an execution:

Role in Investigation: (both innocent and guilty)

Role in Trial: (innocent and guilty)

Reaction to being accused: (innocent and guilty)

Possible Character Arc/Development:

Execution: (optional)

Possible Free Time events: (optional)

Quotes: (optional but recommended so I can get more of sense of their voice)

Other: (anything noteworthy not covered in the other fields)


	2. Cast List

_Well hello everyone! It is time to announce the cast! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a character; it was a joy to read about them, and it was tricky to pick the final cast because they were all well thought out and interesting. Truly, every one of you should be proud. So if you did not make it in, please don't feel bad. I hope you stick around for the story regardless._

 _So without further adieu, the final cast for_ Danganronpa: The Penultimate Students

Females:

Shiori Miura - Penultimate Writer (starsinherwake on twitter)

Hideyo Mitsugi - Penultimate Painter (Agrael)

Kashie Hatsume - Penultimate Public Speaker (mayurie)

Homura Ideki - Penultimate Sharpshooter (PoisonBanana)

Kokoa Uzumaki - Penultimate Chocolatier (liammarklh88)

Akiko Katsumi - Penultimate Drummer (silhouettedMayhem)

Karen Oshiro - Penultimate Jujutsuka (aWasTooShort)

Rika Ohara - Penultimate Gladiator (Magami Kent)

Males:

Remy Lander - Penultimate Animal Photographer (raeolu)

Isao Iwaka - Penultimate Danseur (TheRoseShadow21)

Gorou Ishikawa - Penultimate Snow Sculptor (Brawler64Brandon)

Takeo Ikeda - Penultimate Interrogator (Sync Jack)

Seihiko Ginnaga - Penultimate Yo Yo Pro (thefinalpamofficial)

Kenji Ikeda - Penultimate Gardener (Synklo)

Take Muto - Penultimate Bandit (KISL)

Haruto Hanko - Penultimate Puzzle Master (Tristan25)

 _I know there isn't much to go on with just names and talents, but please feel free to let me know what you think of the cast! I'm not sure when the first chapter will be out, but I will work steadily on it when I can._


	3. Prologue (part 1)

_Prologue: If At First You Don't Succeed…_

Shiori Miura was not the type to wake up somewhere other than where she fell asleep. Sure, she would occasionally fall asleep at her laptop while she surfed online at night, but waking up in an unfamiliar place? Unheardof. So when Shiori slowly awoke and found herself very much not in her own bedroom, she did not react calmly. In fact, as she took in the brown wooden walls of the tiny cabin, it's set of two bunk beds and bare light bulb hanging overhead, she gave a small scream and began to panic.

"Oh my God? What the heck is even happening?" She jumped out of the bed she had been sleeping on and began checking over herself. She gave a sigh of relief when she realized she wasn't seriously hurt. She was a bit disheveled from sleep, but she still wore the same clothes she put on that morning. The big problem was she had been moved to some unknown location with no one else around and her phone was gone so she couldn't call her parents or the police.

"Oh geez you're finally awake," suddenly came a voice from the door of the cabin as a tall girl entered the room.

Shiori yelped and said, "Who're you? Do you know what's going on?"

The girl shrugged. "I'm Kokoa Uzumaki, Penultimate Chocolatier, and I think we've been kidnapped. Probably." She suddenly held out her hand. "Wanna chocolate?"

* * *

Kokoa Uzumaki: Penultimate Chocolatier

* * *

Shiori stared blankly at Kokoa. She didn't look like a particularly suspicious person. She was just a tall, slightly curvy girl with long straight cherry red hair and droopy brown eyes. She wore a black bubble hem dress with a pattern of red hearts and cherries along the bottom, sheer black tights, and red wedge shoes with black straps. Over the dress she had on a white apron, with a whisk and a small green book peeking out of the pockets. She also wore a silver bracelet with a brown, chocolate shaped jewel on it, a brown lace choker, and a brown and white striped beret.

Cautiously, Shiori took the offered chocolate, and said, "I'm Shiori Miura. Uh, what exactly did you mean by 'Penultimate'? Is it some new slang thing? I mean, I've heard of 'Ultimates' before but…"

'Ultimate' was just slang for a teenage prodigy, someone super talented in one specific field, and honestly it was kind of outdated slang from what Shiori knew. Her parents sometimes used it, and it came up in some older books and movies, but no one she knew her own age ever used it.

Kokoa frowned. "I don't know for sure. It's just what came in my profile on this thing." She held up an outdated looking tablet. On it was some kind of profile of Kokoa, and sure enough it proudly proclaimed her to the 'Penultimate Chocolatier.' "There's a bunch of profiles in here, but there all...wait, now there's one of you!"

"Let me see!" Shiori took the tablet and saw that now at the very top of the mostly blank list of profiles was her own name. 'Shiori Miura, 16, Penultimate Writer.'

* * *

Shiori Miura: Penultimate Writer

* * *

"You're right!" exclaimed Shiori. She clicked on her name and the full profile appeared. It showed a picture of Shiori, with her lavender hair done in its half up ponytail style, pale green eyes bright and happy. She was dressed in the same clothes she woke up in; pink cold shoulder top, gray and white floral skirt, pink knee socks, and gray slip on shoes. It even showed her bracelets and red gem necklace. Beside the picture was some basic information; height, weight, birthday, but at the bottom under 'notes' it read, 'Shiori Miura is an excellent writer, capable of writing in many styles, but she squanders her talent writing trashy fanfiction.'

Shiori's face immediately went bright red and she quickly closed the profile and handed the tablet back to Kokoa. "Well, uh, all the information on there is accurate, sort of...How did you get that tablet though?"

"I found it at the end of the bed I woke up on," Kokoa said, pointing to the bunk above where Shiori had awoken, "You should have one there too."

Shiori went back to the bed and sure enough, another tablet lay at the foot of the bed, along with a plastic bag. She picked up the tablet before checking out the bag; it was full of clothes. _Wait a second, these are all_ my _clothes,_ she thought as she dug through the bag. "I am getting majorly creeped out by all this," she said, turning back to Kokoa, "What's even going on? I don't think normal kidnappings are supposed to go like this."

Kokoa shook her head, "Tch, how should I know? And are you gonna eat the chocolate I so generously offered you or what?"

"Oh, right," Shiori said sheepishly and popped the chocolate in her mouth. As she bit down her face puckered up instinctually. _Holy crap, it's so sour!_ But she quickly swallowed the chocolate and gave a shaky thumbs up.

Kokoa scowled and said dryly, "You didn't even try to hide the disgust on your face. Fine, I don't wanna waste my time on rude people. I'm leaving. I've wasted enough time I could have been exploring this place waiting for you to wake up." With that she gave a small 'huff' and left the cabin.

"Wait I— and she's gone. Geez, I was trying to be nice about the chocolate…" Shiori sighed. "Maybe that's how the whole 'Penultimate' thing means. We're talented, but there's some sort of catch? What that profile said..."

Shiori had to admit, the profile wasn't exactly wrong about her. She knew she could write very well in almost everyone genre she'd tried, but most of the time she never wrote anything original. _And it's not like writing fanfiction is bad or anything! It's fun; I have fun doing it!_ But Shiori could not deny that she shied away from writing original fiction, even though she could. She'd written a few very successful mystery short stories for her middle school literary magazine, and one had even won an international writing contest. But it was then that Shiori had became scared. _What if my writing isn't good enough? What if people hate it? What is people hate_ me _for writing it?_

She never had those doubts when she wrote fanfiction; she was anonymous, faceless, and the haters, too, were faceless and a block button away from never bothering her again. She could share her writing with a tiny community who supported her no matter what.

"And that's not a bad thing!" Shiori declared to herself, "Maybe I should try and branch out more, but that doesn't mean my talent is 'squandered', Mr. whoever-wrote-that-profile-thing!" Filled with new confidence, Shiori strode out the door. "Now to figure out what the heck is going on here!"

Shiori blinked at the sudden shift in light, but as her vision cleared she looked around. First she saw another cabin just like the one she just left directly across a dirt path. As she turned to the right she saw a slightly larger building with a sign saying 'Boy's Bathrooms & Showers' above the door next to the first cabin, and then to the right of that another cabin. She glanced back to her side of the path and saw the arrangement was the same; a cabin, a bathroom/shower, and then another cabin. Interestingly, on the roofs of the shower buildings she saw what looking like slowly rotating security cameras, as well as louder speakers. _Is someone watching us?_ she thought. In the distance beyond the immediate buildings she could see more dirt paths, some green fields, and then a forest. _Cabins, outside bathroom and shower buildings, forests..._ Shiori gasped with realization. "It's like a summer camp!"

"See, I told you! She thinks so too!"

Shiori jumped at the new voice and suddenly realized she was not alone. A pair of boys her own age stood next to the bathroom on the other side of the path. The shorter boy was gesturing towards her. The taller boy scoffed.

"And I told you that we cannot say for sure this is a summer camp until we see the rest of the area. If this the only housing there is not enough space for a real camp. Four cabins does not a camp make," the taller boy said dismissively.

Shiori rushed over to the two boys, saying, "Oh gosh I didn't see you! I thought Kokoa and I might be only one's here!"

"Nope, it looks like there are a good number of us here, all teens from what I've seen," said the shorter boy.

"I'd wager there are sixteen of us, considering the number of profiles in the strange tablets. Also, logically there are four cabins, each with two bunk beds," the taller boy added.

The shorter boy scowled, "Everyone's been running around exploring so we can't get a real count."

"Well, maybe we can try to gather everyone," Shiori said, "Or at least set a place for us all to meet. Oh, I'm Shiori Miura. Nice to meet you both!"

"My name is Haruto Hanko, the Penultimate Puzzle Master," said the taller boy, "Although, once I solve the mystery of our current situation, I'll surely be called an 'Ultimate.' Naturally, my skills are already at that level, I just need to prove it to our captor, and the public will surely follow once we escape."

* * *

Haruto Hanko: Penultimate Puzzle Master

* * *

Although he was taller than the other boy, Haruto was actually not too much taller than Shiori, with spiky red hair and pale skin. He wore a brown jacket and brown baggy pants; overall he was somewhat average looking, but held himself with a great deal of confidence. In fact, his smile looked a bit smug.

Shiori hesitated a bit at Haurto's grand introduction, but then said, "That sounds really cool Haurto. I'm just the Penultimate Writer, but it sounds like your talent could be really helpful for figuring out this situation."

The shorter boy looked incredulous. "Not sure how solving crosswords and riddles will help us when we've been kidnapped, but sure, go ahead and keep bragging."

"My skills as a puzzle master are widely applicable, you're just too narrow minded to see it," Haruto said, leaning a bit into the shorter boy's face before turning away, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find out more information about this place so that we can escape. But you two have fun!" With that, Haruto gave a condescending wave and walked away.

Shiori grimaced. "Well he was...something." _And by 'something' I mean 'extremely rude' but I don't wanna say that._

"Yeah, he's an asshole," said the shorter boy.

"I...wouldn't have phrased it that way…" Shiori mumbled, "But anyway, what about you? What's your name? Do you have a 'Penultimate' talent too?"

"Gorou Ishikawa, and I guess I'm the Penultimate Snow Sculptor."

* * *

Gorou Ishikawa: Penultimate Snow Sculptor

* * *

Gorou was about the same height as Shiori, which made him very short for a boy. He had messy silvery blue hair peeking out from under a black, white, blue and cyan striped knit cap with a pom pom on the end. The dark bags under his eyes stood out against his pale skin. He wore a dark blue sweater with blue fur trim around the collar, black pants, black knee boots, and gray boot cuffs.

"A snow sculptor? That sounds pretty cool if you know what I mean," Shiori giggled.

"Oh wow, a pun about the cold I've never heard before. Truly you are a literary genius," Gorou said as he rolled his eyes.

Shiori ducked her head sheepishly. "I guess it wasn't the best pun. But it does seem like a really interesting thing to be talented in."

"Talent ain't all it's cracked up to be," Gorou said softly, "Like in our situation; whoever caught us is making a big deal about our talents. It might even be why they took us."

"Huh, I hadn't thought of that…" Shiori trailed off before straightening up, "Well, I said I was gonna see if I could find everyone else, so I'm gonna go do that! Maybe we can meet up back here later, okay Gorou?"

Gorou paused for a second before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Do whatever you want. I saw people going both directions so just follow the paths and you'll find somebody."

Flashing a perhaps overly bright smile, Shiori cheered, "Okay! To find more people!" Then she turned to the left and began walking.

Once she was far enough away from Gorou that he wouldn't hear her, Shiori gave a small groan. "Ah, I keep annoying people. He didn't seem as mad at me as Kokoa did, but maybe I need to dial down the energy…" She continued down the path and saw that it split. One side led into the woods, the other side turned left to lead between a large pond with a strange wooden tower standing next to it, and what looked like soccer field. Right at the fork in the road stood a wooden pole with a louder speaker and rotating security camera at the top. _More surveillance?_ she thought, _I can't even tell if they're on..._ To the side of the field stood a small three sided shed with sports equipment inside, and next to the shed stood a girl.

 _Okay Shiori, time to make an actual proper introduction,_ she thought in determination as she strode up the the girl. "Hey, my name's Shiori Miura, the Penultimate Writer. It's nice to meet you, despite the uh, weird circumstances."

The girl cleared her throat and adjusted her black framed glasses. "I'm Karen Oshiro. I am likewise pleased to make your acquittal."

Shiori blinked before saying, "Um...do you mean 'acquaintance'? Oh! And do you have a Penultimate talent?"

Karen blushed deeply and looked away. "Right, quite right. Yes I do, but it is rather unseeming. The strange profile calls me the Penultimate Jujutsuka, but I do not practice that vulgar trade anymore."

* * *

Karen Oshiro: Penultimate Jujutsuka

* * *

Shiori had to admit that Karen did not particularly look like a martial artist. Sure, nothing physically made that impossible. Karen was just a few inches taller than Shiori, with brown hair tied up in a bun and hazel eyes. Although she looked rather fit and curvy, her face had a softness to it, and her clothes gave off a more academic feel. She wore a yellow turtleneck sweater with a black swirl design on the front, a short black skirt, and plain black flats.

"Well that's kinda strange. Everyone else I've talked to seemed to at least be alright with their 'talent.' I wonder why yous is something you don't like…" Shiori pondered.

"...could we please not talk about it?" Karen said sharply, "I'd much rather discuss your talent. Writing is such a...solipsistic art. Perhaps we could talk about...Shakespeare. My favorite play is—"

Suddenly a pink blur barreled into Karen from the soccer field. "Karen Karen Karen! There's so much grass here! I haven't seen so much grass in forever!" The figure fell dramatically onto the ground, arms spread to the sides to take in the feel of the grass. Now Shiori could see that the figure was another girl.

"Hey there! Need a hand?" said Shiori, leaning over and holding a hand out to the girl, who quickly took it and bounced to her feet.

"Golly, another person! And she's a cute girl too!" the girl said innocently.

Shiori quickly took her hand away and began babbling. "Ah, wow okay. Never had another girl call me cute. That's uh...fine! Just fine, not awkward at all. Anyway, I'm Shiori Miura, the Penultimate Writer! What about you?"

"I'm Rika Ohara, the Penultimate Gladiator!" Rika exclaimed, striking a confident pose. "The Pink Punisher, Atomic Rika!"

* * *

Rika Ohara: Penultimate Gladiator

* * *

"Um...really?" Shiori said and stared at Rika in disbelief. _There's no way that's true! Gladiators aren't even a thing anymore!_

Rika did have a somewhat strange appearance though. She was the same height as Shiori, but had a much more fit build with wiry muscles. Her hair was pale pink and tied up into short pigtails with light green bows. Her outfit consisted of a pair of shorts and a jacket in matching dark pink denim, a white tee shirt trimmed with pink, a black belt with a green atomic sign for the buckle, and black boots with pink laces. Additionally, Rika had a tattoo of the same atomic symbol on the back of her right hand.

"Really really!" said Rika, nodding eagerly, "I have the longest undefeated streak in the arena! And the Atomic Rika fan club has members from all over the world!"

Karen coughed softly and whispered to Shiori, "I did see her doing some training exercises earlier. She is certainly a skilled fighter."

"Huh," Shiori said, then turned back to Rika, "How did you start being a uh, modern gladiator?"

"I've always been one, ever since I was little!" Rika said without a hint of hesitation.

Shiori furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Isn't that kind of dangerous? At least the old gladiatorial games were. Were your parents okay with that?"

Rika blinked. "I don't have parents," she said blankly.

Shiori blanched and stammered, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"That's okay!" Rika replied, "My managers take really good care of me. But Shiori!" Rika suddenly grasped Shiori's hands. "Being a writer sounds so cool! What do you write about?"

"I am...also curious," Karen added, "Surely your work must be...deeply profound and...verdant."

"Uh…" Shiori stalled, "I write a lot of um...romance stories."

"Romance?!" Rika said with a squeal of delight, "Like Cinderella?!"

"No no," Karen interrupted, "Surely she writes complex love affairs filled with...prurience and—"

"And hot steamy smut!" shouted a new voice from across the road behind them.

Shiori whipped around and blurted out, "That was one time! And it barely counts; there was a fade to black before it got not safe for work because I didn't wanna have to rate it explicit—"

"Sure you did," mocked the holder of the voice, a tall girl standing across the path next to a large pond. "Seriously though, no judgement from me. You do you girl."

It took a moment for Shiori to compose herself before she turned back to Rika and Karen. "Do you think we could meet back at the cabins later? We should try to gather everyone so we can figure out what's going on."

"Can do!" cheered Rika before she grabbed Karen by the arm. "Let's go look around more! And then we can spar later!"

"I told you before I don't want to spar!" cried Karen as Rika dragged her away.

Shiori then walked over to the pond to greet this new girl. "Sorry about that. I'm trying to set up a meeting at the cabins later so we can all work together to get out of this place."

The girl gave a short, confident laugh. "No need for that. I can take care of myself; don't need any of you lot telling me what to do." The expression on her face was darkly intimidating.

Shiori backbeddled. "I'm not saying you have to come or anything! I just thought, you know, 'two heads are better than one' and all that…" She shook her head and straightened up a bit. _Meet confidence with confidence Shiori! s_ he told herself. "I'm not sure how much of the conversation from before you heard, but I'm Shiori Miura, Penultimate Writer!"

"And I'm Akiko Katsumi, the Penultimate Drummer. Although honestly, I'm not a prodigy like the dumb 'Ultimates' in those old movies. I worked hard for the talent I have, and I can proudly say it ten times better than any natural ability."

* * *

Akiko Katsumi: Penultimate Drummer

* * *

"I can definitely appreciate hard work!" said Shiori.

"Good on you Bubbly; whoever the bozo it was who took us has a lot of nerve saying I'm 'too untrained' to be a real Ultimate!" Akiko punched a fist into the air. "When I find them I'm gonna give a good one-two punch, ya hear?"

With her fist in the air, Akiko gave off a truly hot-blooded attitude. She was almost a foot taller than Shiori, with purple hair that faded into dark red in an ombre style tied up in a messy ponytail. She had on a sharp pair of black glasses over her bright green eyes. Her letterman jacket was black and white, and under that she wore a maroon tee shirt with a gray alien head on the front. Around her neck was a maroon bow tie choker, and on the bottom she had on gray pants.

Shiori lifted her own fists. "Yeah! ...Wait, 'Bubbly'?"

"That's your nickname, 'cause you're so upbeat and shit." Akiko looked at her like it was obvious.

"Uh...okay then. So do you think you'll meet us later or…?"

"Nah," said Akiko, "I'm gonna check out that tower. Looks important, right?"

Shiori glanced up at the tower. "Well, yeah, sure."

Akiko grinned with glinting teeth. "I'm gonna see if I can climb it. From up there I can see everything, and no one'll be able to get at me without a fight."

Shiori almost backed away from the intense expression, but then Akiko laughed again. "Don't look so scared, Bubbly! I ain't gonna do anything stupid like hurt anybody or something. We're still in this together; it's just best for everybody if i do my own thing. Later!" And with that Akiko dashed off towards the tower.

 _That could have gone worse, I think?_ Shiori thought as she continued down the path past the pond. _She doesn't dislike me, she just...only does what she wants to…_ As she continued walking she saw that the path ahead was blocked by some sort of complex metal gate. Another speaker and camera pole stood nearby. _Geez, is there anywhere these camera can't see us?_ Barbed wire fences extended from each side of the gate, completely blocking off the area ahead. As she approached she saw signs on the fences that read 'Danger! Electrified Fence' in bold letters.

Careful not to get too close, Shiori looked through the fence to see that the path actually continued deeper into the woods. "Huh," she wondered. "Is this where we were brought in?" She walked back over to the gate and saw that another person, a boy, had appeared; he was examining the gate.

"Hello!" Shiori said in greeting, waving.

The boy jumped a bit, then relaxed when he saw her. "Oh hi. You scared me a little there."

"Sorry about that," Shiori apologized, "Do you know how to open this gate thing?"

The boy shook his head. "No clue. I just got back here after following the fence for awhile looking for gaps. No such luck."

Shiori pouted. "Darn it. Maybe there's be one on the other side?"

"I'm not sure that's super likely. The fence and this gate thing look really new. See how shiny the metal is?"

"Oh yeah, you're right," she said, looking closer that the metal of the gate, "Now that you mentioned it, the cabins seemed pretty new too."

He nodded. "I know, right? The wood hasn't faded to that weird gray color. Whatever this place is, someone built it recently."

 _What could that mean?_ Shiori wondered.

"Whoops, I haven't introduced myself," the boy said, "I'm Seihiko Ginnaga. I'm a professional yo-yo player."

Shiori's eyes widened. "Woah, that's so cool! I didn't even know that was a thing! Is that you're Penultimate talent?"

"Yep," said Seihiko, "Guess it's because I'm kinda perpetually in second place."

* * *

Seihiko Ginnaga: Penultimate Yo-yo Pro

* * *

Seihiko had a very bright, friendly appearance. He stood about half a foot taller than Shiori. His hair was styled in an undercut, the short hair brown and the longer hair dyed orange and swept to the right side. He had golden eyes, a largish nose, large round glasses, and dangling downward-pointing triangle earrings, softening his otherwise serious features. His outfit included an open yellow-orange shirt with rolled up sleeves over a black long sleeved shirt; the shirt had a silver ring surrounded by a red curve that ended in small silver circle. His pants were black, at his waist he wore a white belt with a red star buckle, and clipped to the belt was a orange and black yo-yo. For shoes he had white and silver sneakers with orange ties.

"My name's Shiori Miura, and I'm the Penultimate Writer," said Shiori, "I'm sorry about the whole second place thing. I'm sure you can get first eventually!"

"It's not too big a deal!" Seihiko countered. Strangely, Shiori thought she heard some strain in his voice, but it quickly dissipated. "I'm perfectly fine with where I am right now. I still have a pretty good fan following online though. I guess people like seeing pics of my trick training progress."

"Wait, I've maybe seen some of those! Gosh, some of my friends love your stuff! I had no idea that was you."

Seihiko laughed a bit. "I usually keep my face out of those photos, so it makes sense."

"So Seihiko," Shiori said, moving to a new topic, "I've been asking people to meet up later back at the cabins so we can all figure out what's going on. Will you come?"

"Of course," Seihiko replied quickly, "If we all put our heads together, I'm sure we can figure something out."

Shiori grinned. _Finally someone cooperative and helpful!_ "Well, I'm gonna go back and check some of the other paths for more people!"

Seihiko nodded. "I'll double check the other side of the fence to make sure there aren't any gaps or other gates. See you later!" With a quick wave to each other, they both went on their way.

Shiori jogged back past the pond and the tower, smiling at her success befriending Seihiko. _He's such a nice guy, and so humble too!_ She frowned slightly at that thought. _Why do I feel like there's more to it than that?_ She shook her head and kept moving. She needed to find more people.

As she walked, she realized that there were even more speaker and camera poles in the distance. _I_ really _hope whoever kidnaped us isn't watching,_ she thought. Eventually she got back to the fork in the path, but just as she was about to head down in she saw a strange, furry lump on the ground up head. _Is that a dead animal?_ she wondered as she slowly approached. But as she got closer, she saw it was too big to be a dog or racoon. _I assumed we were still in Japan because everyone speaks Japanese, but we could be in Canada for all I know!_ Then she saw the brown boots poking out from under the fur; it was a person hiding under some kind of fur coat. _Oh thank goodness,_ she thought, sighing in relief.

"Are you okay?" Shiori asked once she was a few feet from the person.

Quickly the person, a tall skinny girl, jumped up. Now Shiori could see that it wasn't just a regular fur coat; it was a bear's skin! The head acted as the hood, and the arms as sleeves.

"I'm sorry!" The girl cried, "I was...a bit overwhelmed."

"That's okay," Shiori said, "This is a stressful situation."

The girl fidgeted with her sleeve, but said nothing else.

After a moment of silence, Shiori said, "I'm Shiori Miura. What's your name?"

The girl hesitated before answering. "...Kashie Hatsume."

"It's nice to meet you Kashie." _I better be careful with her; she seems really shy and scared,_ Shiori told herself as she continued. "Do you have one of these weird 'Penultimate' titles? Mine's Penultimate Writer."

"...Public Speaker!" She stammered out, suddenly shouting by accident, "Pleased to meet you!"

* * *

Kashie Hatsume: Penultimate Public Speaker

* * *

"Oh," Shiori said. _I would not have expected that. She's so timid._

As Shiori noticed before, Kashie was very tall, a foot taller than herself, with pale skin. Peeking out from under the bear's head hood was soft brown hair and purple eyes. Besides the bear skin, she wore a white turtle neck, a long washed out denim skirt, and short brown boots.

"I...I'm sorry! I'm not...super confident yet…" Kashie said, still stammering slightly.

"No no no; It's fine!" Shiori said, raising her hands in a comforting gesture. "I know you can get there! I think all of us are still working on our talents."

Kashie looked at Shiori, a few tears still in her eyes. "You...really think so?"

"Yeah!" Shiori declared, "In fact, I just realized something! 'Penultimate' may mean 'next to last,' but that still means we're really close to being 'Ultimate'! We can get there with the right attitude!"

"...Okay," said Kashie, smiling weakly, "I...I will keep...keep on trying."

Shiori gave Kashie a quick pat on the arm. "That's what I like to hear! Hey Kashie, did you check out what's down this path?"

Kashie nodded, frowning. "I did but...right as it...it got to a clearing there was a fence and a...weird gate."

"Oh, I ran into one of those earlier. Darn it!" Shiori stomped her foot. "Why are there paths to places we can't even get to? And if whoever took us didn't want us going there why make a gate instead of a real wall? It doesn't make sense!"

Kashie let out a small 'eep' noise. "I'm sorry I don't know! Do you...want me to check it again? I can do that! Please don't be mad!"

"Wait, Kashie—" But the tall girl had already run back down the path into the woods. "Ah geez. I didn't get to tell her to meet us, and I made her scared again."

Slightly disheartened, Shiori walked back down the path towards the cabins. As she passed them she didn't see anyone new, although she thought she heard Rika's loud voice in the distance. Just beyond the cabin she had initially emerged from the path split in a t-shape. Just beyond the path she saw a muddy area fenced in by a wooden slate fence. Inside were several barrels and hay bales. _Is that a corral? I've never seen one in real life._ Next to the corral was a large wooden American style barn. She walked up the barn's large doors, but found they were shut with a large sturdy lock. She groaned, "Why is everything in this friggin' place locked!?"

"Shhh," suddenly came a voice from just beyond the barn, "You'll scare the bird away."

"What?" Shiori asked as she walked over to the voice to find a boy crouching on the ground, a camera pointed at a bird. He sat so still he barely seemed alive, staring intently through the camera lens at his target.

She waited for a second for the boy to speak again, then said, "Uh, hi?"

The boy continued watching the bird through the camera. Suddenly the bird let out an angry tweet and flew right past the boys head. At that the boy slowly lowered his camera, but continued to stay silent.

Shiori cleared her throat and tried again. "Sorry about the bird."

The boy turned to her and blinked. "Normally animals like me," he said blankly. Now that he was facing her she could see that the boy looked American, despite his very good Japanese.

"Really? That's nice." There was another long silence. _Wow this boy is even more awkward than Kashie!_ "Well uh, my name's Shiori Miura, Penultimate Writer. And you?"

He blinked again as he finally stood up. "Remy Lander. Penultimate Animal Photographer."

* * *

Remy Lander: Penultimate Animal Photographer

* * *

Remy had some features that Shiori thought of stereotypically American, but overall he seemed too awkward to fit the 'loud, bombastic' stereotype. He was tall, with golden blond hair and slightly tanned skin. He had a biggish nose and double lidded blue eyes. He wore a green long sleeved shirt under a khaki vest with many pockets, brown pants with even more pockets, hiking boots, and a black camera bag at his side. His camera hung around his neck.

Shiori cleared her throat. "Animal photography? That sounds really interesting! What kind of animals have you photographed?"

"...all kinds of animals." Remy said slowly, "Once, I got a really good action shot of an elephant after it started stampeding towards me."

"Stampeding?!" she yelped. "Were you okay?"

Remy shrugged. "I didn't get hurt or anything."

"Oh thank goodness. I guess you were more careful next time?"

"I haven't been to Africa again." He frowned. "The client said...I caused too much trouble with the animals. Which is weird, cause animals like me."

 _I'm getting the feeling that isn't really true!_ Shiori thought. "Anyway, some of us are gathering back at the cabins later. Will you come?"

Remy nodded, then started walking away towards the corral.

"Okay then…" Shiori trailed off as he left. "Time to move forward!"

Continuing down the path past the barn, she soon came to a large open area surrounded by about five buildings. In the middle of the cleared area stood a flag pole. A flag black with a strange red zigzag design on it flew at the top. The biggest building was right across from the path she had come up, with the words 'Mess Hall' above the double doors. Sort of connected to the mess hall was another smaller wing to the building, but she couldn't see a sign indicating its purpose from her current angle. What she could see was that, yet again, most of the buildings had speakers and cameras on the roofs. She walked cautiously into the open area between the two small builds right next to where the path met the courtyard and turned around to look at their fronts. The building to her right was labeled "Health Clinic," and examining the door of the building was a girl wearing a white cast on her left arm.

"Do you need something for your arm?" Shiori asked as she walked to the girl.

The girl turned around before giving a dismissive hand wave. "Nah, I'm good, just wanted to take a look around just in case, but no such luck. Check out this weird sign though." She pointed to a sign on the door. It read 'Closed until Orientation Ceremony is complete.'

"What could that mean?" Shiori wondered.

"No idea; all the buildings have this sign," replied the other girl. "But wait! I haven't introduced myself! I'm Homura Ideki, Penultimate Sharpshooter! I hope we can be good friends!"

* * *

Homura Ideki: Penultimate Sharpshooter

* * *

Homura struck a confident pose, hands on her hips. She was taller than Shiori, with long blonde hair with the tips dyed bright teal, and eyes in a similar shade. She also wore round thin framed glasses and a pair of white and pink headphones around her neck. Her outfit was a black tee-shirt with a bright pink heart on it, simple white shorts, and pink knee socks. Strangely, she wasn't wearing any shoes.

"And I'm Shiori Miura, Penultimate Writer; I hope so too! Can I ask what happened to your arm?"

"Ah, it's nothing," Homura said, "Just a little accident. Honestly it'd be healed already normally, but I just can't keep from pushing myself, ya know?"

"I can kinda of understand that." _So many nights staying up too late finishing a new chapter…_ "Why do you think whoever took us set all this up?"

"Probably just what they could find. I mean, who'd look for missing teenagers at an abandoned American style summer camp? It musta been shut down for not being too popular and our perp snuck us in here."

Shiori looked puzzled. "You think this place was abandoned?" _But everything's so new looking…_

"No doubt about it! I got this feeling in my gut, ya know?"

 _I don't know if gut feelings are enough in this situation,_ Shiori thought. "Um...we can talk about what's going later. We were gonna meet back at the cabins."

Homura gave a thumbs up. "Sure thing! You keep meeting people, and I'll tell anyone I see too!"

"Oh thanks!" said Shiori before she left Homura as she continued examining the Health Clinic. She turned her attention to the building to the left of the path, this one labeled 'Nature Center.' This time she found a boy peering intently through the window. He looked so focused she didn't want to disturb him. Careful so she didn't startle him, Shiori walked up to the other window and peeked through as well. Inside she could a few large tables, some shelves filled with taxidermied animals, posters of various plants and animals, and various gardening and hiking equipment leaning against the far wall. "Huh, well the sign did say nature center."

"That spade needs to be sharpened…" murmured the boy suddenly.

Shiori jumped a little, then recovered and turned to the boy. "Really? You can tell from here?"

The boy glanced over to her, looking a bit perplexed, or perhaps annoyed. "I'm a gardner. Of course I can tell."

"Oh, neat! Is that your Penultimate talent?" Shiori asked, hoping to get a real conversation going. "Mine's writing. And my name is Shiori Miura, by the way."

"...Kenji Ikeda, and yeah, it is."

* * *

Kenji Ikeda: Penultimate Gardener

* * *

Kenji definitely had the gardener look about him. He was rather tall, with bushy brown hair that partially covered his light brown eyes and thick eyebrows. He also had a somewhat large nose and medium brown skin. He wore faded blue overalls embroidered with leaves and flowers, a brown belt, gardening boots, and gardening gloves. He looked ready to dig around in the dirt.

"So Kenji, I was wondering if—"

"No," Kenji interrupted flatly, turning back to the window.

Shiori started. "What? I didn't finish asking—"

"Doesn't matter. I don't wanna talk, so go away." Strangely, his voice seemed to waver a bit at the end.

Stunned for a moment, she relented. "Okay fine. See you later Kenji." _What was his problem? I didn't even do anything!_ Shiori thought as she continued to the next building. _Even if he's nervous he doesn't have to be rude._

The next building had 'Art Center' over the door. A girl was rattling the door handle, mumbling, "Oh no, no! I don't want to wait for some silly ceremony."

Shiori giggled lightly. "What's in there that's got you so excited?"

The girl turned around. "I saw the most amazing set of paints through the window! So many canvases, and so much other interesting material as well. This place is so beautiful I want to start capturing its beauty right away."

"I take it you're some sort of artist then?" Shiori asked.

"Yes yes! I'm Hideyo Mitsugi, the Penultimate Painter! I hope we can have some fun together while we wait for someone to find us!"

* * *

Hideyo Mitsugi: Penultimate Painter

* * *

 _Of course she's a painter,_ Shiori realized as she glanced over Hideyo, _Not only does she have that eccentric look, everything she's wearing has paint on it!_ Hideyo was a somewhat tall girl, about a half foot taller than Shiori, with pale skin and wavy navy blue shoulder length hair with the right side shaved short. Her hair had two highlights, one green and one yellow. She had blue eyes and a skinny nose. For clothes she wore a dark blue silk robe that reached her feet. The robe had a pattern of white flowers on it, but the pattern was somewhat disrupted by the various paint splatters on it.

"Shiori Miura, Penultimate Writer; I certainly hope we can find a way of out this soon," said Shiori. "I'd hate to have to deal with all these locks for too much longer."

"Did someone say locks?" came a new voice from beyond the art center.

Shiori and Hideyo turned to see a new comer, a tall boy in a stetson hat, stoll over to the locked door, pull out some strange metal tools, and begin fiddling with the lock.

"What are you doing?" gasped Hideyo.

"Trying to pick the lock, but man what is this thing? I've picked a lot of locks but this one isn't like any of them," the boy said.

Shiori frowned. "Um, why do you know how to pick locks?"

The boy stood up and gave a charming yet wolfish grin. "Because I'm the Penultimate Bandit. Take Muto, at your service."

* * *

Take Muto: Penultimate Bandit

* * *

Now that she looked closer, Shiori saw that Take did have a roguish appearance. He was rather tall and broad shouldered, with long wavy light green hair, amber eyes, and fair skin. His face had a strong square jawline and chin, pointy nose, and thin lips. He wore a long white shirt stained with dirt under a knee length brown jacket with many pockets and dark green lining. On the bottom he had baggy brown pants held up by a calico belt and muddy gray boots. In addition he wore a green neckerchief and the brown stetson with a black and white feather stuck in the band.

"That's really not necessary!" said Hideyo. She trembled, backing away slowly.

"What? And after I generously offered my services. You'd rather I just bash the door in?" Take asked lightly, like it would be easy. "I don't usually do property damage but I could manage it."

"She means we don't know how whoever took us will react to you breaking in!" Shiori said sharply. "We're still in unknown territory, so we need to be careful."

Take turned to her and gave a short, harsh laugh. "Trust me, nothing's gonna stop me from getting at something I want, no matter what the psycho who took us thinks. It's all just a matter of not getting caught. Still, I don't need any art stuff, so I'll stop for now. Bye ladies!" With that, Take walked away back behind the art building.

Hideyo cautiously came back over to Shiori. "Is it going to be safe with a criminal around?"

"I honestly don't know," Shiori replied, "If he wanted to hurt us he probably could have already, but I'd definitely keep an eye on your stuff."

Hideyo nodded, then seemed to compose herself before saying, "You seem like you could be a good leader, Shiori. You really stood your ground with him and thought about how to be safe in this situation!"

"Really? Oh gosh…" Shiori blushed a bit. "I'm just trying to stay positive and practical." _Even though all of my writer's instincts are telling me this is going to get really bad or really weird, or both,_ she thought."Anyway, did you hear me talking to Homura about meeting at the cabins later?"

"No, but that sounds like a great idea. Yes yes! We can work together, like the great artistic collaborators of the past!"

"Are you so sure about that?" said a new person.

Shiori turned and saw the voice belonged to a tall boy standing by the flagpole. "Of course collaboration would be better!" she said as she walked over, "What single person could get out of here alone?"

The boy shook his head. "Perhaps, but how can we be sure we're all really on the same side? Someone might be working with our captor, or simple have plans that do not align with the interests of the group."

Shiori was taken aback. _I hadn't thought of that..._ After a moment she continued. "That might be true, but what's the alternative? Everyone wandering around alone?"

"I'm just advocating caution," said the boy, "Especially if you are planning to lead us, Shiori Miura."

"You overheard us?" Shiori asked.

"It's not like you and Hideyo over there were talking particularly quietly."

"Ah," she said flatly. "Well, do I get to know your name and talent, Mr. Caution?"

"Takeo Ikeda; Interrogator. Call me Ikeda, please."

* * *

Takeo Ikeda: Penultimate Interrogator

* * *

Takeo, or rather Ikeda, did have an intimidating air about him. He stood almost a foot taller than Shiori, with a lean build, olive skin, brown hair with dark red highlights, and dark almond shaped eyes that pierced through everything. A thin scar ran down the right side of his face, adding to the intimidating aura. He dressed all in black: a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, pants, combat boots, and knee guards. His shirt had a skull and crossbones patch on the breast pocket, and the same design adorned his black beanie hat.

"Ikeda? Are you related to Kenji?" Shiori looked back at the gardener, still at the nature center window. "More importantly, interrogator? How did you get to be an interrogator?"

"It's a common enough last name, isn't it?" Ikeda said, ignoring her questions on his talent.

"I suppose," Shiori conceded, "And I suppose it would have been hard to keep you straight with Take if you went by your given name, but why? It sounds so formal."

"It's what I'm used to." Ikeda simply walked away towards the mess hall door. "Don't worry; I won't cause trouble or anything. I'll even come to your little meeting. Just think about what I said."

Shiori stood in shock as he left. _What was that? He was so intense, and how did he end as an interrogator, seriously?_ As she walked over to the small building connected to the mess hall, worry began to fill her mind. _What if he's right? I didn't even think it would be possible for one of us to be working against the group, but it is possible, right? Teens end up working with bad people all the time in stories, and no one would expect someone their own age to betray them in this scenario, and God, people kidnapped and taken to strange places never end up just being rescued, and—_

Suddenly a gentle hand rested on her shoulder. "Are you okay? You look upset."

Shiori looked over and saw a boy with a kind face looking at her with concern. Immediately a blush crept across her face. _Oh my gosh he's so cute!_ Her thoughts continued swirling for a few seconds, but eventually she replied, "Oh yeah, I...just got caught up in worrying. This is a really scary situation, and I guess I panicked…"

"Depending on who else is here, we might have some help with that," the boy said. "Look, the sign says there's a guidance counselor." He gestured at the sign above the door, and sure enough it read 'Guidance Counselor.'

"Huh," she said. "I guess so; I just hadn't seen any adults here yet."

"I suppose that's true, but we'll just have to wait and see," said the boy, "And even if there aren't any adults here, I'm sure we'll be rescued quickly."

Her blush deepened. _Oh no he's cute_ and _nice! Keep it together Shiori!_ She smiled shakily. "That's true; depending on how long we've been gone, I'm sure we've been reported missing. So ah...thanks for the, the reassurance. It was very...cool of you. I'm Shiori Miura. My um...Penultimate talent is uh, Writer!"

"Isao Iwaka; I'm the Penultimate Danseur. That's the formal French term for a male ballet dancer, since most people don't know."

* * *

Isao Iwaka: Penultimate Danseur

* * *

Shiori looked over Isao as she continued blushing. Isao was a little over half a foot taller than her, but he held himself with such great posture he seemed taller without dominating the space. He had slightly tousled black hair, warm golden eyes, and clear brownish-gold skin. He wore thick black framed glasses that added to his kind charm. His outfit was casual, just a nicely fitted gray tee shirt with the slogan 'Warning: may start talking about ballet' on the front, with 'warning' surrounded by a yellow box, and black pants. For shoes he wore simple light gray canvas shoes.

"It was cool of you to set up a meeting for everyone." Isao continued as he gestured over to Homura, who was examining the last building in the circle with 'Recreation'on the sign. "Homura told me, and I think it's a great plan."

Shiori could not hold herself together anymore and was left opening and closing her mouth dumbly.

Thankfully Isao just laughed a bit. "Not used to compliments I guess? Sorry if I made you embarrassed."

"No!" said Shiori quickly, "You're fine! Just...still a bit overwhelmed I guess. I should be complimenting you! Ballet is so hard to be good at! You must have trained for years!"

"I mean I did spend a lot of time learning," Isao said, "But there are all sort of talented dancers all over the world; I'm just one of many, really."

Shiori shook her head emphatically. "But to be part of that elite group is definitely something to be proud of! Don't sell yourself short."

Strangely, Isao looked a bit lost for words at her declaration, but before he could reply, loud static began blaring out of the various roof speakers.

"Ah, ah, mic check! One two, one two!" emerged an oddly high, chipper voice from the static, "Mic check! This is the test of the camp intercom system!"

"What in the world?" Shiori said, backing away from the building into the open area, "Is that…?"

"It might be whoever took us," whispered Isao as he followed her.

The voice on the intercom continued. "Now then, everyone please gather at the camp Mess Hall! Don't be late! The Orientation Ceremony is about to begin! Upupupu!" With a click, the intercom shut off, and all that remained was a heavy, tense, silence.

Shiori bit her lip, then walked confidently to the mess hall doors. _It's time to face the uncertain future!_ With that thought, she opened the double doors and walked inside, unaware of what horrors would soon begin...

* * *

 _And thus ends the first part of the prologue! Hi everyone; sorry this took a while. Even when I didn't have time to write because of life obligations I was thinking about this story, outlining and planning, because I want this story to be the best it can be. And all of your very kind reviews really kept me going and often made my day. Either way, I hope it was worth the wait. Feel free to discuss what you think of that cast now that you've properly met them! I have also drawn pictures of my interpretation of how the cast looks and posted the link to the gallery in my profile. If you want to have your own art included please let me know and drop me a link! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, now that I know roughly how much I can write in a day depending on how busy I am. Next time we meet the bear himself and see what our guidance counselor thinks of his students...and what they think of him. Till next time!_


	4. Prologue (part 2)

Reijirou paced anxiously behind the curtains of the small stage inside the mess hall's dining room. Monokuma was already up above the stage ready to jump down and greet the students, but Reijirou had to wait until his 'boss' introduced him to come out on the stage. "It'll add to the drama!" Monokuma had said, "And remember; I'm your boss. You do what I say, you keep any negative opinions about your situation to yourself, or you get the ax! Literally!"

 _And I am not gonna risk dying. No thank you,_ Reijirou now thought bitterly, _At least I have a TV monitor so I can see what's going on out there._ He glanced to the monitor. The last few students had finally filed in. Thankfully he was fast with names and faces, so he recognized each of them from when he studied their profiles. Shiori Miura, Hideyo Mitsugi, and Isao Iwaka were at the front, while Kashie Hatsume and Kenji Ikeda hung back. The rest mingled around in groups, murmuring nervously about their situation.

Reijirou jumped when he heard the 'thunk' of Monokuma dropping down in front of the students. He watched as the students gazed at the stage in shock. Although one student looked strangely happy…

"A teddy bear!" Rika Ohara cried in delight, immediately rushing towards the stage. Thankfully Karen Oshiro grabbed her arm and held Rika back.

"I am not a teddy bear!" said Monokuma. Because of the angle of the camera for the monitor, Reijirou couldn't see the bear, but from the tone of his voice he was annoyed. "I am Monokuma, the director of this fine camp! Welcome to the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students!"

Rika quickly raised her hand. "Can I hug you Mr. Monokuma?"

"No!" said Monokuma and Karen in unison.

Gorou Ishikawa walked up the stage and said, "Now hold on. Are you seriously claiming to a real talking bear? That makes no sense!" He turned back to the rest of the students. "It's obviously a robot or animatronic or something. Someone else is controlling it." Reijirou nodded slightly. _My thoughts exactly. If we could just find them…_

"Well, aren't you a smarty pants!" laughed Monokuma, "But frankly it doesn't matter to you bastards! What matters is that I'm in charge!"

"Like hell your in charge! I ain't listening to you, ya freak!" yelled Akiko Katsumi from one corner, "You kidnapped us! And I'm gonna get you to let us go if I have to beat it out of you!" With that she ran towards the stage.

"Ah ah ah!" Monokuma chided. Suddenly a red dot appeared on Akiko's chest and she froze, looking up at the stage. "Violence against me or my co-worker is against the rules. And the punishment for breaking that particular rule is death! You didn't think I wouldn't have a way to protect myself, right?"

 _So he must have a gun installed inside him somewhere,_ Reijirou realized, _We can't touch him. Damn it!_

Remy Lander calmly lead Akiko away, but she continued glaring at Monokuma, fists shaking at her sides. Kokoa Uzumaki numbly handed her a chocolate.

"Wait a second!" said Shiori, "You mentioned a co-worker? There's someone else who's working with you?" More chatter rippled through the room and Reijirou straightened up.

Monokuma chuckled. "That's right! I was going to wait until I had explained the purpose of this camp to introduce him, but I suppose there's no use waiting. Please give a warm welcome to your Guidance Counselor, Mr. Reijirou Saiki!"

 _That's my cue,_ Reijirou thought as he stepped through the center of the curtains. Monokuma stood just to his left in a dramatic presentational pose, and the students stood out on the floor, once again stunned.

"Mr. Saiki here will be helping you with any issues you may have! He can mediate disputes, help with feelings and junk, and most importantly!" Monokuma turned back to the students, his red eye glinting, "If you misbehave too much, I will send you to him for punishment!"

Before Monokuma or anyone else could speak, Reijirou stepped forward. _If I don't get a word in now there's no way any of them will trust me!_ "Hello students!" he said, keeping his voice calm but enthusiastic, "It's very nice to meet you all. I want you to know that your the safety and wellbeing is my top priority. I know this situation is...strange, but I hope you can come to me if you need help." He saw a few students relax a bit, but others still looked suspicious. _It's a start I guess,_ He thought as he stepped back. At this point, he didn't have anything else he wanted to say while Monokuma was still around.

"Are you going to get the the point or what?!" called Akiko, still agitated.

"Yeah!" added Homura Ideki, "Why did you bring us all here?!"

"I was getting to that!" said Monokuma, "Geez, you teens never know how to be patient."

"Get on with it then," muttered Takeo Ikeda from where he leaned against the wall.

Monokuma huffed slightly. "Alright, you bastards! You all are here to hone your talents! All of you were chosen because you have talents, but have not reached your full potential! For one reason or another, you've all fallen short!" Some of the students grumbled angrily at that, but a few nodded sheepishly. "At this camp, you will be put to the test. You will face a challenge the likes of which you've never seen! If you can make it out of this camp, you can truly call yourself an Ultimate!"

"And what is this 'challenge'?" asked Haruto Hanko. "Despite what I you think, I can promise you I am already capable of defeating it."

Reijirou braced himself. _Here it comes…_

Monokuma grinned. "It's a Killing Game!"

There was a moment of tense quiet as everyone processed the announcement. Once again, Rika broke the silence. "But I don't want to kill anyone!" she said in clear confusion.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Take Muto asked, exasperated, "C'mon, I could be doing things that actually matter!"

Nearby Seihiko Ginnaga trembled, nearly falling over. "How can you be so calm?! This freaky bear has us trapped and wants us to kill each other!"

Take laughed and clapped Seihiko around the shoulder with one arm. "Don't be so worried. I can protect ya, if you're worried."

Kokoa side eyed Take and muttered, "I'd be more worried that you'd steal from me."

"Are any of you seriously thinking this 'Killing Game' is gonna happen?!" shouted Gorou over the commotion, then turned back to Monokuma, "And you! Why the hell should we listen to a thing you say?! Or even believe you?"

"Yeah motherfucker!" Akiko agreed, "Give us one good reason to play along with you!"

"You want a reason?" Monokuma asked innocently. "I can give you one good reason! It's the only way to escape to the outside world!"

Gorou scoffed. "Again, why should we believe you?"

"We all have human decency," added Isao, finally recovered from his shock, "We can wait for someone to rescue us."

"Rescue? Hah! No one's gonna find you bastards! And it doesn't matter if _you_ believe me! As long as _one_ of you believes it, the Killing Game will begin sooner or later!"

"That...that's stupid!" shouted Homura, "How would we even do it? Just start beating each other up like in those old movies?"

Reijirou had to admit he was curious about that too. Depending on what the rules of this 'Killing Game' were, he might be able to sabotage it without Monokuma realizing it. But if it was a free for all...

Monokuma waggled his finger disapprovingly. "No no no! This Killing Game is far more sophisticated! In order to escape from the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students, you must kill another student _and_ not be caught!"

 _Not be caught? Just that just mean if no one sees you do it you escape?_ Reijirou wondered.

Shiori echoed his thoughts. "How...how are we supposed to go about catching them then? We aren't police officers or detectives or anything!"

"When someone commits a murder, I will give all of the students time to investigate the case!" Monokuma explained, "Once that time is up, the students will all have to find the identity of the culprit, the 'blackened,' at a Class Trial!"

"And what happens once we catch them?" Haruto inquired, sounding strangely calm.

Monokuma laughed. "Confident in your abilities, eh? I think I'll save that for when the first murder occurs! Now, all of the camps rules are in the Monopads I provided for you, so you have no excuse not to know them! Now go on! Prove your worth in the Killing Game and get right to it! Upupupupu!"

Still laughing, Monokuma opened a hatch in the floor of the stage and hopped down out of sight, leaving Reijirou alone on the stage. He looked out at the students, some still in shock, others shaking with panic or anger. He took a step forward, then froze. _What do I do? What do they need right now? Crap, they all probably need different things, what should I—?_

A choked, gasping sob from the back of his room drew his attention. Kashie hide under her fur coat, but he could still see her trembling fiercely. "I don't— I don't want this...I just...wanna go home…!" Her breathing was ragged and shallow.

Reijirou quickly jumped down from the stage and went over to Kashie, kneeling down beside her. "Hey Kashie, you need to slow your breathing, okay?" he said, "I'm gonna count, and you're gonna breath in for four…" He continued leading Kashie through some basic breathing exercises, and slowly she got her breathing back to a more normal rate. Eventually she peeked her head out from under her hood.

"...Thank you," she whispered.

"Just doing my job," replied Reijirou as he helped her stand back up.

"Yeah right!" shouted Gorou as he stormed over to the guidance counselor. Despite his short stature, he radiated hostility. "There's no way your 'job' is really to help us if you work with the freaky bear! I bet you're here to play up our insecurities and sow conflict behind our backs! Sure, you act all helpful, but you're really here just make things worse!"

"I— I would never—" Reijirou stumbled over his words. _He's kind of right; I'm sure that_ is _what Monokuma wants from me, besides punishing them for breaking the rules,_ he thought, _But I can't tell him I was kidnapped too or Monokuma will kill me and then they'll be_ alone _and I don't want that and—_ He collected himself. "I gave my word before, and that wasn't just a show for Monokuma; the safety and well being of all of you students is my top priority, and I will do my best to show that in my actions."

Some of the students who still looked nervous seemed to relax a fraction at that. Hideyo separated herself from from Shiori's arm, and Kenji released the self protective embrace he had been holding himself in. Karen, Akiko, Haruto, and Kokoa still looked skeptical, but not hostile.

"Maybe our resident interrogator can figure out what this guy's real deal is," said Take with a glance towards said interrogator.

"Yeah, Skull," said Akiko, running up to the interrogator with a wild grin on her face, "Just tell me where to punch and I'll make him hurt!"

"Call me Ikeda, and did you forget he is also protected by the rules?" Akiko scowled. "While I certainly have some questions for our dear counselor, I would rather ask them...privately." With that Ikeda finally left the wall and looked at Reijirou. "Is there a time we could meet in your office?"

Reijirou blinked in surprise, but quickly caught himself staring. "Of— of course. I was actually just about to announce something about that." He turned towards the whole group again and cleared his throat. "I'm going to be in my office every day in the mornings right after breakfast and afternoons until about 3:00 in the afternoon. If you need to talk to me you can see me then for private sessions. The rest of the day I will be setting up activities to help us bond as a group and learn to trust and care for each other. Of course, if there is some other sort of problem you can come find me and I'll do my best to help."

 _I'm so glad I planned this speech out before hand,_ Reijrou thought, sweating imperceptibly (he hoped). But he had used his time before this meeting carefully. He needed time to devote to talking to the students individually, to gain trust and help with individual problems. However, the only way he could think of to stop a killing game was to get everyone in the group to care for each other. If everyone could be at least friendly with each other, or eventually get to point of really trusting each other, then even someone...callous would find it difficult to find someone they'd be willing to kill.

Gorou still frowned. "You've still given me no reason to trust you." He glanced pointed around the room. "Or any of you, frankly. I'm out."

"Wait, Gorou!" Shiori called, but Gorou had already left through the mess hall's double doors.

"That cold-hearted asshole!" shouted Akiko, "When I see his smug face again, he's gonna get real acquainted with my fist!"

"Such… violent conflagration is unnecessary," said Karen, "While I will agree he was being...overly hostile, physical violence will not change his mind."

Akiko laughed sarcastically. "That's rich coming from you, Dictionary! You act all sophisticated and crap, but you're whole talent is about beating people up!"

"Shut up! You don't get it!" yelled Karen.

"I don't really understand what we're arguing about," declared Rika, "But you shouldn't be mean to Karen!"

Sensing the possibility of a real fight breaking out, Reijirou moved to stand between the two girls. "Now we don't need to be—"

"I— um!" Kashie said suddenly, "I need some time to think! Sorry!" And she rushed out as well.

"Kashie!" Shiori said in protest. She straightened herself and shouted, "No more fighting and no one else leave yet! I have something to say!"

Reijirou turned to her in surprise as the rest of the students quieted. _I didn't expect her to be the assertive type._

"I think, regardless of his intentions, Mr. Saiki's idea of us bonding is a good one!" Shiori declared. "Distrusting each other, going off alone, that's only what Monokuma wants!"

Haruto looked somehow both intrigued and annoyed. "And how would you know that? Monokuma never said as much."

"But this is a Killing Game he wants us to play!" she said, "Distrust? Fear? Those things makes people more desperate, more willing to hurt someone to get out. We need to become closer so _no one_ will want to kill, no matter how long it takes for us to be rescued!"

Isao clapped his hand on her shoulder, smiling. "All we need to do is wait."

"Yes yes!" added Hideyo. "We can work together to make it through this!"

"Yay! Teamwork!" cheered Rika, pumping her arms in the air.

"I second that!" added Homura, high fiving Rika with her good hand.

Reijirou looked around at the rest of the students. Kokoa and Karen seemed cautious, but they had relaxed a fraction. However, Karen still glared at Akiko, who returned the gesture. Remy's face remained so blank it was unreadable. Kenji still looked very nervous, but also torn somehow. Seihiko smiled weakly as Take clapped him on the back.

"A regular love fest, ain't it?" Take said, "Don't expect me to hang with ya'll all the time, 'cause I need my space, but I'm up for some group bonding shit, right buddy?"

Seihiko seemed shocked that Take was already calling him 'buddy.' "Uh, right!" he agreed.

Haruto laughed, his voice light but with a hint of a harsh edge. "We won't even need bonding and all that nonsense, because I'm going to find us a way to escape! Now, dear Shiori, since you have said your piece, I think I will be off. Can't solve this puzzle without all the pieces, now can I?" Haruto left, still laughing condescendingly.

"Oh, I don't like him, no no," said Hideyo.

"But if he manages to find a way out, it could be helpful," countered Isao.

Shiori looked a bit hurt at Haruto's words, but nodded. "I guess an escape plan isn't a bad idea either. Anyway, could we all meet here in the morning for breakfast, and talk about what we've found while exploring?"

All the students nodded or otherwise expressed some agreement, and slowly they began filing out of the mess hall. Kokoa looked around at the others, then quickly walked over to the door labelled 'Kitchen.' Karen, still tense from the conflict with Akiko, let Rika lead her out. Akiko stormed out while Homura followed, calling, "I'll make sure she doesn't break anything!"

Hideyo, who seemed to have regained her composure, cheered, "I'm going to check out the craft center! Who wants to come with?"

"Maybe later," said Shiori, "I wanna check out the rest of this building first. But have fun!"

"I think I'll join you," said Isao. As they began to leave, Remy silently followed behind them.

Take grabbed Seihiko's arm and said, "Come on buddy! Time to check out what kinda loot's still around." Sehiko's expression was somewhere between confusion and hesitation, but he let Take lead him out.

With that, Reijirou was left alone with Kenji, Shiori, and Ikeda. Kenji seemed to be debating with himself about something, stepping forward before huddling back into himself. Eventually he seemed to have made a decision, walking towards Reijirou, but Ikeda blocked his path.

"Could we have that private conversation, Mr. Counselor?" Ikeda asked.

Reijirou paused, then said, "I suppose so. Meet me in my office, okay?" Ikeda nodded and exited. Reijirou then turned to Kenji. "Did you also want to meet?"

Kenji started, then seemed to collapse into himself again. "I...well, I just...never mind," he murmured, head lowered in an attempted to hide his blush. He gave a small bow and quickly walked out the doors.

Reijirou glanced at Shiori, who was checking out the stage, as he walked to the left side of the stage to a simple door with a sign saying 'No Campers Allowed!' He pulled out a key he'd found earlier and unlocked the door. Inside were Reijirou's own quarters. _At least I don't have to room with a bunch of teenage boys,_ he thought as he glanced around the simply furnished room, _Everyone else has to share_. The room held a bed, bedside table, lamp, dresser, and window. In one corner was another door to a tiny bathroom. The key to the room had been on the bedside table. And in the other corner was the door to his office, which he now opened.

Reijirou found Ikeda looking over the bookshelf passively. He cleared his throat. "Well, we're in private. What did you want to ask me?" _An interview with an interrogator. This should be...interesting...Who am I kidding? He's gonna read me like a book._

Ikeda stared at him, silent and intense. Reijirou gulped, but held his gaze. Finally, Ikeda asked, "Why did Monokuma hire you?"

Internally, Reijirou sighed in relief. _I don't have to lie yet._ "I work as an advice columnist. I'm used to answering teens' questions and helping them out," he answered, "I guess...he was a fan of my work." _How_ did _Monokuma find out about me anyway? The paper wasn't that popular…_

"And what about you?" Ikeda pressed, "Are you a 'fan' of Monokuma's work? Is that why you work with him?"

Reijirou bit his lip, but eventually evaded the question by saying, "I work _for_ Monokuma. He's my boss." _And he's threatening my life if I don't work for him, but hey, small details._

Ikeda raised an eyebrow. "Let me be frank. Do you agree with this Killing Game?"

Reijirou hoped his panic didn't show on his face, because internally his mind was filled with _Crap crap crap_ — _what do I say?!_ From the hint of a smile on Ikeda's face, it did. Eventually, Reijirou managed to stammer out, "I think that's enough for today, Ikeda. Thank you for, for talking to me, but I need to...to make sure I have time for other students as well. Have a good evening."

Ikeda titled his head, silently evaluating the guidance counselor. Ice crept up Reijirou's spine; with his face thrown into shadow by the setting sun, it felt like Ikeda could see into his very soul. Finally, Ikeda's hint of a smile fell and he shook his head. "Alright then. But Mr. Counselor, I will get my answers from you." With that ominous proclamation, Ikeda left Reijirou's office.

Finally alone, Reijirou collapsed into his chair, rested his head on his desk, and groaned. "I'm really not cut out for this...Unrequited crushes? Easy! Friends problems? Quick fix! Drama with parents? Hard, but way easier than teens being asked to _murder_ each other by freaky talking bears! Nothing like _that_ in any of my textbooks...God, what am I doing…" He picked up his head and dropped it back down on the desk, then again.

"Um…?" Suddenly a timid voice came from the doorway. He whipped his head up from the desk and saw Shiori standing in the walk open doorway.

"Shiori! I... I'm so sorry; I didn't see you," Reijirou said, jumping out of his chair. _Have your breakdown later. They need you to be a source of stability._

Shiori shuffled her feet. "It's okay! You were uh...having a moment…"

"You heard that?!" Reijirou said, running his hand through his hair. He quickly attempted to pull himself together. "I— Eh-hem. I apologize. You don't need to be dealing with my issues and uh… stuff..." _Wow, great adult-ing there, Reijirou. You sound so put together and not at all like you're in over your head._

"I...don't mind, though?" Shiori said, before giving a hesitant smile. "It's actually kind of comforting, knowing I'm not the only one shook up by this…"

"Really?" It slipped out before he could stop the words. Shiori blinked, then nodded slowly.

Reijirou paused, coughed, and slowly sat back down at his desk again before continuing. "...Knowing you're not alone in a difficult situation is important. Is that why you came to talk? So you don't feel alone?"

"Not exactly," Shiori said as she sat at the wooden chair in front of his desk and scooted closer. "I feel like I've already made a few friends, and even more amicable acquaintances. I'm more worried about the one's I'm...not friendly with."

"I don't think you need to worry. I've seen how you act with Isao and Hideyo; you're clearly a kind and considerate girl. At that point, it's on them, not you." Reijirou gave her a sympathetic smile.

Shiori shook her head, saying, "No, I know that, it's just...people are looking to me to lead them, I guess? Shouldn't a leader, like, unite everyone under one goal or something?" As she continued, her voice got more strained. "But Gorou and Ikeda don't agree with me, and Akiko and Haruto and Take just do their own things; I don't want them getting hurt, but I don't want them to hate me and I just don't know what I'm doing!" She panted from releasing so much pent up energy.

 _Oh,_ Reijirou thought, _I hadn't considered— Does she want to lead? She shouldn't have to..._ He glanced at Shiori, still shaking from her outburst. _Do kids get so worked up about things they don't want to do? But she's really good at it, and it'd be hard for me to take complete charge with my...predicament...But I shouldn't just push it onto her either...Let's just stick to confidence boosting advice; yeah, that should work._

Eventually he quietly replied, "It sounds like you're under a lot of pressure. Some of it from the other students, but also from yourself. I think...what you need to remember is that you can't always get people to listen. Even great leaders won't be able to convince everyone. But I think if you lead by example, acting in the way you want the others to, even the people who don't agree with you will at least respect you."

Shiori looked at him, still uncertain. "You think so?"

"Of course!" Reijirou replied. "I think you're actually a fairly natural leader. If anyone can eventually unite everyone, it's you. You also shouldn't feel like you have to; no one appointed you leader, but if you feel called to do it, I say go for it!"

"...Okay!" said Shiori, raising up her fists as if to pump herself up, "I'll keep doing my best!" She turned to exit the office, but quickly turned back around right before the door. "Thank you, Mr. Saiki! I don't really know what's going on with you and Monokuma, but I can tell you're on our side." And then she was gone.

Reijirou finally collapsed back into his chair. He had not really expected to have two session with students on the first day, much less ones as emotionally intense as Ikeda's or thought provoking as Shiori's. He dug around in his desk to see if Monokuma had given him any paper or notebooks to write on. Eventually he came up empty, sighed, and opened the 'Note' app on his 'Special Employee Monopad.' He focused on transcribing the sessions as best as he could remember, (what he wouldn't give for a voice memo app), added a few immediate thoughts, then closed the app. He'd add more thoughts later.

He glanced over the rest of the apps on the Monopad. He's already used 'Profiles' and 'Notes,' and earlier he'd glanced at 'Maps' to find a map of the island, although strangely it wasn't completely labelled. That left 'Truth Bullets,' which he couldn't open for some reason, and 'Rules and Regulations.' _Better know what the students might be sent here for,_ he thought as he opened the app and glanced at the rules.

'Rules and Regulations for the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students

Campers may not leave the island; they will live at the camp indefinitely.

'Nighttime' is from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am. During Nighttime, the mess hall will be locked, and the water in the bathroom buildings will shut off.

No destruction of Camp buildings or facilities, including fences, gates, monitors, speakers, or cameras.

Campers are allowed to explore open areas of the camp freely.

Violence against Monokuma or the Guidance Counselor is strictly prohibited; breaking this rule will lead to immediate extreme punishment.

Monokuma can send any camper to the Guidance Counselor if they break a rule, where he will choose an appropriate punishment.

A camper may escape the island if they can kill another student, unless they are discovered.

More rules may be added at any time.'

Reijirou frowned. _Why is rule five the only one with immediate death as the punishment?_ He shivered, remembering Akiko's stunned face. _Maybe he doesn't want to thin the numbers too quickly and ugh I feel horrible just thinking that…_

He looked back at rule six. It was worded somewhat ambiguously; would Reijirou be picking the punishments, or Monokuma? "If I can pick the punishment," Reijirou said as the realization hit him, "I don't have to go so hard on the students! Especially if I can somehow defend it to Monokuma...Maybe I can make this work…"

He looked out the window and realized the sun had now fully set; the clock in the Monopad said 9:00 pm. _Better take a shower now is case my water shuts off too._ He rose from his desk, feeling the most confident he had since he'd woken up in this strange place. _I believe in those kids, and I believe in me; we can outsmart Monokuma and get out of here!_

 _Prologue: If at First You Don't Succeed…_

END

* * *

 _Thus ends our prologue! I hope the switching perspectives aren't too distracting. I will set up a poll for Freetime events with Shiori. Also, after next chapter I will post a poll for who you'd like to visit Reijirou, either in his office or outside it. The next chapter might not come as quickly, as I'm going to be traveling and then getting very busy for the month of June. I will still try to write whenever I can, so thank you in advance for your patience._


	5. Chapter 1 (part 1)

_Chapter 1:_ _All that Glitters_

On the Penultimates' first full day on the island, four chimes rang through the morning air, and Monokuma announced over the speakers, "It is now 7:00 am! Nighttime is officially over, and the Mess Hall is open! Now get out there and start working on your talents! Upupu!"

As the announcement sounded, Shiori awoke with more energy than she knew what to do with. She took the fastest shower of her life, threw on her spare change of clothes, and announced to her cabin, "I'm heading to breakfast!"

Shiori had checked who was in which cabins last night. Besides herself, her cabin had Kokoa, Karen, and Homura; Rika, Kashie, Hideyo, and Akiko were in the other girls cabin. For the boys, Haruto, Gorou, Takeo, and Isao took the cabin directly across from Shiori's, and Take, Seihiko, Remy, and Kenji rounded out the group in the last cabin.

However, Shiori soon realized the only other person in the cabin was Homura, who stirred in her bunk above Shiori, mumbling "Five more minutes…" Karen was still in the shower building, as she'd been since Shiori woke up. _She must be particular about her appearance,_ Shiori had thought when she'd left the shower herself and saw Karen still fussing with her hair. Although Karen had been up early, the earliest riser of the group was Kokoa; she was walking out the door, fully dressed, when Shiori awoke.

"Ops, sorry Homura," Shiori apologized as she backed out of the cabin. Outside, she saw Isao stretching a little in front of his cabin. She blushed a bit at his toned muscles, but shook it off as she approached. "Hey Isao! Did you sleep well?"

Isao stopped stretching and replied, "Not as well as I'd have liked, but considering everything that's happened, I'm just happy I got to sleep."

"Huh, it was kinda similar for me; I had so much adrenaline it was hard to sleep, and I woke up as soon as I heard the announcement," Shiori said, then glanced back at her cabin, "But I wasn't even the first one awake! Karen and Kokoa were already up."

Isao shrugged. "I'm up because I'm used to early mornings, but Haruto and Gorou are still sleeping. I'm kind of surprised. I expected Gorou to go find somewhere else to sleep, what with his talk about distrusting us."

"I almost did," said Gorou as he left the cabin. Shiori jumped, but Gorou continued anyway. "But there wasn't anywhere to sleep comfortably, and I ain't making myself and easy target by being tired. Besides, who could sneak into any of these cabins at night without waking the other people? The doors squeak like all hell."

Shiori composed herself and said, "That actually makes the group rooms a good thing then. And honestly, staying in groups is a pretty good idea, right? If you're always with others, you're less likely to be targeted because of potential witnesses." She delivered that last bit looking right at Gorou. _See, staying together is better for reasons besides becoming friends, Mr. Grumpy Pants._

Gorou frowned, thinking, before muttering "I'm getting food," and walking away towards the mess hall. She watched him go. _I'll take that as a victory!_

"How about we get going to the mess hall as well?" said Isao, voice weirdly loud.

"I mean, I thought we could wait for some of the others," said Shiori, a touch confused. _What's up with him? He was fine just a second ago._

Before Shiori could consider Isao's behavior, Hideyo came running up to them. "Good morning! Did you two sleep alright? I can't wait to get going on figuring out what's going on, yes yes!"

Shiori giggled a bit at Hideyo's enthusiasm. "Wow, you're even more awake than me! And yeah, we slept alright."

"I like to wake up early to paint!" Hideyo explained, "The light in the morning is some of the most beautiful!"

"Well how about we get some food before we start planning for the day," said Shiori, "And we did agree to meet everyone this morning."

"Oh, yes yes!" said Hideyo, "Let's get going."

"Onwards, then," said Isao, and the trio began making their way towards the Mess Halls.

About halfway there, Hideyo suddenly gasped. "Oh! I just remembered! Did either of you seen Kashie since she left the mess hall yesterday?"

"No, why?" asked Isao.

"She never came back to the cabin last night and she wasn't there this morning!" cried Hideyo, "I'm really worried she might...I mean she went off by herself and—"

"Hideyo, calm down!" said Shiori, grabbing Hideyo's arm, "If she doesn't come to the meeting this morning and no one else has seen her, we'll go look for her, okay? I doubt anyone would resort to murder just—"

"There's no need to talk about any of that," Isao interrupted, "Let's just get breakfast, okay?"

The two girls stopped, and Shiori said, "Ah, right." _Okay, Isao is definitely acting kind of weird._ She bit her lip. _I'll...maybe I can talk to him later? Yes, that should work._

Just as the group was about to enter the mess hall, Shiori said, "Uh, actually? I have something I need to tell you guys." Isao and Hideyo both paused, and Shiori led them off to the left of the door. She drew herself. _I trust them; they should hear this._ "I went to talk to Mr. Saiki last evening, before I came back to the cabins."

Hideyo gasped in awe. "You did? What did you talk about? What did he say? He seems nice enough and I don't think he's a bad guy but I didn't want to the first one to talk to him."

"Technically the first one to talk to him was Ikeda," added Isao, "But he didn't say anything to the rest of us in the cabin about what happened, and based on his attitude, I doubt he'll tell us later."

"Anyway!" Shiori whispered harshly, getting back on topic, "Right before I went in, I overheard him talking to himself. He seemed really stressed and upset, talking about how this...situation was so different from what he usually dealt with." She hesitated, unsure if she should disclose exactly how distraught Mr. Saiki looked in that moment, but then moved on and said confidently, "I think Mr. Saiki was telling the truth when he said he wanted to help us. I don't think he wants us to get hurt."

Hideyo gave a small cheer. "Yes yes! I knew I had good feelings about him."

"I'm glad too, Shiori," said Isao, "But that doesn't tell us why he's working with Monokuma."

Shiori faltered at that. _I...that's right; why does Mr. Saiki work for a kidnapper?_ "Maybe…" she pondered, "Maybe he knew we'd need an ally, and so he took the job so someone cruel wouldn't? But how did he find out about all this in the first place? Hmm..."

The group considered the problem in silence for a few moments, but then a grumble from Isao's stomach ruined the solemn atmosphere. Hideyo laughed and said, "Better get some food in you, Mr. Danseur!"

Isao smiled back. "Won't say no to that!" All chuckling, the group entered the mess hall.

Shiori surveyed the room. As he had said yesterday, Mr. Saiki waited for the students as he sat at one the cafeteria style tables eating bowl of miso soup and some rice . Kenji sat a different table, picking at a sad looking muffin, while Remy sat directly across from him with a bowl of sugary cereal. She could hear clanging and muttering in the kitchen.

Cautiously, Shiori peeked into the kitchen. On one side she saw Gorou reaching into a cabinet to grab what looked like a prepackaged bento box, and on the other Kokoa furiously stirring a pot on the stove. All around her where various baking supplies, and Shiori spotted some kind of pastry in the oven. As she, Isao, and Hideyo entered the kitchen Gorou pushed past her. Shiori cleared her throat. "What are you making, Kokoa?"

Kokoa jumped and turned around. "Pain au chocolat," she said, frowning, "Don't interrupt me."

"Okay!" Shiori replied quickly. Carefully avoiding all of Kokoa's supplies, she grabbed a small serving of rice from the rice cooker and a banana. She never really ate all that much for breakfast, so with that she left the kitchen.

Immediately she saw that Gorou had not stayed in the mess hall. However, Karen and Rika had arrived. Rika bounced up and down impatiently in her chair. "I wanna get food though!" Rika whined.

"You might wanna wait a bit; it's pretty crowded in there!" Shiori said.

Karen looked to Shiori and nodded pointedly. "Exactly as I elucidated. You'll need to wait." Rika pouted, but stayed in her chair.

Shiori looked over at Mr. Saiki. He still just sat at his table eating, although he occasionally looked up at the students. Biting her lip, she slowly walked over to the counselor. "Uh, thanks for making rice!" she said.

Mr Saiki, who looked a bit startled, said "Um, right. Right of course, you're welcome. I just...figured it'd be simpler than everyone trying to make their own."

"Okay…" She struggled to find something important to add, gave up, and simply said, "I'm gonna...go eat with Isao and Hideyo now." She stiffly turned around and went to the table where Isao and Hideyo now sat.

Isao had an almost absurd amount of food in front of him. Two bananas, a bowl of cereal, three mini muffins, and a bowl of rice with an egg on top. He was already digging in to one of the bananas with an intensity and focus that seemed like he hadn't eaten in days.

"Wow, I guess you are hungry," Shiori said as she sat down a seat away from him. _One seat away isn't too close, right?_ she thought, biting her cheek nervously, _This is acceptable distance for just-friends-and-definitely-not-crushes, right?_ She left out a breath to calm down. "Are you sure you're going to able to eat all of that?" she asked.

"Yes!" Isao snapped, grabbing the muffins from their plate near Shiori and pulling them closer to him. He quickly popped the rest of the banana into his mouth and started on the rice.

Shiori blinked and leaned away a bit. "Right, right." Hideyo looked up from her fruit cup and gave a look that seemed to ask 'Do you know what's going on?' Shiori glanced furtively at Isao, then gave a small shake of her head.

In the end the group ate in silence as more people began filtering into the Mess Hall and getting food. After about thirty minutes, everyone except Gorou and Kashie had gathered in the room. Take and Akiko were brave enough to try some of Kokoa's now completed pastries, but the other students had abstained. Shiori stood up and said, "Um, alright! Now that everyone's here, we can start the uh...meeting!" She faltered, but continued. "Is there any vital information anyone had found they wanna share with everyone?"

"I wanna know what Skull found out from talking to Teacher!" said Akiko, glancing pointedly at Ikeda and Mr. Saiki.

Ikeda looked unperturbed. "I don't recall ever saying I would share what I learned from our talk." He looked over to Mr. Saiki with a strangely knowing look. "And I doubt a professional counselor would break patient confidentiality." Mr. Saiki's eyes widened a bit and he started coughing.

"Oh, you are making me mad, Skull," Akiko said, cracking her knuckles, "You do not wanna see me mad."

"I could make a guess, based on your foolishness from yesterday," Ikeda replied.

"Nope! No fighting! Have your disagreement later!" Shiori shouted, crossing her hands in front of her like an 'x'. "Once again, things to be shared for the good of the order?"

Take smirked and raised his hand. "I found a bunch of basic medicine in the medical center. We won't need to worry about getting sick."

"Wait a second, that reminds me!" said Homura, "Why did I see you and Seihiko carrying bags of things out of there yesterday?"

Seihiko began to explain. "You see, we—"

"We snagged a bunch of the more dangerous stuff," Take interrupted, "Scalpels, syringes, that sorta stuff. Wouldn't want a potential murderer to get at them, right?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Shiori saw Isao gag for a second, but then more people started talking.

"And we should believe you just got rid of all of it?" asked Kokoa, sarcastically, "If you're so worried about 'safety,' are you going to confiscate all the knives in the kitchen too? Or all of other crap around here that could theoretically be used for murder."

"I must confer," added Karen, "Given your talent...why should we trust you didn't… pilfer the weapons for yourself?"

"Aw, aren't we supposed to be the lovey-dovey trust bunch?" Take said, batting his eyes innocently, "I'd take you to where we buried them, but that's defeat the purpose of hiding them. I promise we hid them in a safe place! Right, Buddy?" He nudged Seihiko.

"Um, we did hide them. I promise," Seihiko added quietly. He looked around at everyone. "I thought it'd be safer, and unlike the kitchen stuff, it's not like any of us know how to use them for what they're uh, actually for…"

Suddenly Isao stood up. "This is not what we should be talking about! We need to focus on escaping and not...that. There's nothing wrong; we just need to get out of here." A drop of sweat trickled down his brow.

 _He's a lot more stressed than I thought,_ Shiori realized, _Maybe that's why he was protective of his food? I don't know. Oh boy…_

"On the topic of escape, I have an insight," said Haruto, rising confidently from his seat. "I followed every fence I could find in this place, and found no place for a boat to land." He smiled smugly. "That means we must have been brought here by helicopter."

"Well, wait..." said Shiori cautiously, trying not to upset him, "Aren't there some parts of the island we can't reach because of the fences? On the map, it looks like there might be a bay past the fence by the pond. What if there's a boat there?"

Haruto's face went bright red and he clenched his fists as he turned to her. "We have no evidence that says there is a boat _or_ a bay. Monokuma could have...intentionally made the map misleading."

"We also have no evidence of a helicopter, nor where our captor would be keeping it," said Ikeda. "Unless it's behind those fences, in which case a boat hidden outside them is just as likely."

Haruto absolutely fumed, before crossing his arms and declaring, "Well! In either case, that's better for us! If we can shut down the power to the fences, we can steal whichever vehicle it is and escape!"

"That...actually isn't a bad idea, Haruto," Shiori said.

"Of course it's a good idea! It just takes a mind like mine to figure it out," Haruto said, voice haughty once again.

"...What if there's no way to switch the power to the fences off without destroying the power source? There's a rule against destroying camp property..." said Remy, suddenly breaking his long silence.

Akiko punched one fist into the palm of her other hand. "I say screw the rules if it'll mean getting out of here!"

Mr. Saiki cleared his throat. "I...would also like to remind you to be...careful when dealing with dangerous things like...power generators…"

Akiko glared at Mr. Saiki and gave him the bird.

Haruto blanched, stammering, "Well, we, we will deal with that once we find the power source!"

"...But what if we can't get at the power generators? They could be outside the fences..." asked Kenji, picking at his muffin's wrapper.

"If we're dealing with locks, I'm your guy," said Take.

"But...you couldn't get open the lock on the art center before…" murmured Hideyo.

Take gave Hideyo a pointed look. "That was one time," he said through his teeth, "I'm the best bandit there is; no lock will stop me forever."

 _This is getting too tense,_ Shiori thought. "Okay, new topic! Has anyone seen Kashie around?"

After a long, silent moment in which Take glared at Hideyo and Haruto glared at Shiori, Remy raised his hand. "I did." But as was his habit, he did not elaborate.

Shiori still sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Where did you see her, and when?"

Remy actually almost smiled. "This morning...She was sleeping on her jacket...under a tree just past the cabins…" He frowned then. "She had one of the bats from the sport's equipment shed next to her..."

Shiori bit her lip. _She looked so scared before, and I bet she doesn't trust us, so getting a...weapon makes sense..._ "Thanks, Remy. I think I'll see if I can check on her later."

Haruto scoffed, still red in the face. "Honestly this discussion is meaningless at this point; I'm done dealing with you…" He stormed off, mumbling something about 'underestimating me' and 'you'll see I can solve this.'

For a moment Shiori considered trying to stop him, but instead she let him leave, saying, "Actually, that was pretty much all I wanted to cover, so…"

Rika perked up from where she'd been laying her head and arms on the table. "We're done? Yay! Time to go play!" With that she skipped out of the door.

"And I'm going exploring!" declared Take, "Gotta see if there's anything interesting in the forests, right Buddy?"

Seihiko nodded, but just as the two were about to leave Homura walked over and said, "Well, I'm up for some exploring! Mind if I join you?"

Take looked her over. After a second he said, "Sure. Just make sure you follow my lead; I'm used to roughing it in the wilderness, so I know what I'm doing."

Homura gave a thumbs up. "Got it! If only I had one of my rifles! I could shoot us some bird meat!"

Kokoa's eyes widen in mortification as she whispered, "Why would you even do that? We have plenty of food."

"Uh, I knew that!" replied Homura, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, "I was uh, trying to make a joke. Guess it didn't work. Darn! Need to work on my sarcasm." Then she turned to join Take and Seihiko at the mess hall door and exited the building.

Kokoa stayed silent in shock for a moment, before throwing up her hands and returning to the kitchen. Akiko, Kenji, Remy, and Ikeda each left by themselves. However, Karen eyed Ikeda as he left and quietly followed him out. Mr. Saiki picked up his dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen. Isao sat back down at his chair to finish his food, oblivious to whatever else was happening.

As these various groups began to disperse, Hideyo came over to Shiori and tapped her on the shoulder. "Shiori! Come with me to the art center! I need to show you something!"

"Sure, what is it?" Shiori asked as they left the mess hall and walked over to art center.

Hideyo led Shiori past the tables and shelves full of art and craft supplies to a storage closet. "Check these out!" she said as she pulled out what looked like a giant tarp. "These are the kinds of tarps people use for backgrounds in plays. We could use these to make backdrops for the stage!"

"Yeah, you're right, but what could we use a backdrop for?"

The two girls thought for a moment, but then Hideyo cried out, "A talent show! You could read something you've written, and Isao could dance, and we could ask the others if they want to perform too! And preparing for it would a fun way to pass the time until we can find a way out of here or someone can find and rescue us!"

Shiori began smiling, mind racing with possibilities. "That's such a great idea! Oh gosh, Kokoa could make refreshments! And Akiko could provide music, and maybe Kashie could be the Master of Ceremonies!"

"And even if people don't want to perform, they can have fun watching!" Hideyo clapped her hands, growing more excited. "I'm gonna start on a backdrop right now!"

Shiori bounced with energy. "I'll go start asking people if they wanna be in it! And see if Mr. Saiki wants to help."

"Come tell me who wants to join later, so I can figure out if we need more than one backdrop! Bye!" called Hideyo as Shiori left the art center.

 _Who should I ask first?_ thought Shiori. Suddenly she remembered about checking on Kashie. _Two birds with one stone then!_

She walked briskly back towards the cabins. On the way, she saw a couple of the other students. Karen was talking to Ikeda, who looked rather board with whatever she was saying. Gorou sat outside his cabin eating his bento. As she passed by he gave her a silent, intense stare before returning to his food.

Finally, Shiori reached the tree Remy had mentioned. Sure enough, Kashie was sitting under it, now awake but clutching her bat close to her chest. Keeping a fair distance, Shiori said, "Hey Kashie! How are you this morning?"

Kashie jumped. "Ah! Uh...I'm, okay? I guess…?" Her hands shook from how hard she held her bat.

"That's good!" Shiori said, a bit uncomfortable but trying to keep her voice level.

The two remained quiet for awhile, but eventually Shiori said, "Actually, I have another thing to ask you. You can totally say no; it'll be fine either way." Kashie looked puzzled, but nodded, slowly lowering her bat. Shiori took a breath, but her excitement made her words tumbled out of her in a rapid stream. "Hideyo and I are gonna try to put together a talent show! Would you like to be the MC? Like, announcing each act, commentating, stuff like that?"

Immediately Kashie's face turned bright red. "I, I don't know...I've never uh, done something like that…before..." Her stuttering was worse than usual. "Usually I just...read my speech all the, the way through…"

"Well, this would be like...a bunch of little speeches!" said Shiori. "And it wouldn't have to be fancy if you didn't want it to be. But, but like I said, it's totally cool if you'd rather not."

Kashie huddled herself up, her eyes shadowed by her hood. "I...I think I'd…" She paused, then looked up at Shiori. "...I'll tell you tomorrow?"

Shiori smiled. "That's fine!" she said, waving her hand in a calming gesture, "I need to see if anyone else wants to be in it anyway. So...I'm gonna go do that! It was nice to talk to you."

Kashie gave a black, puzzled look as Shiori walked back towards her own cabin. Once she was inside she sat down on her bed and pulled out her Monopad. She pulled up the profiles app and began looking over each of the students to see who she should ask about being in the talent show. _Definitely Isao and Akiko, and probably Seihiko too, but who else? Remy could put up some of his photos, but would we be able to print them? Maybe Hideyo knows if the art center has a printer. Gorou? We don't have snow for him to sculpt though...Maybe Rika or Karen could show off some moves on stage? Wait— Karen said she doesn't do Jujutsu anymore...Who else's talent can be shown in a show?_ As she thought she hummed to herself, swinging her legs back and forth.

Suddenly a new thought occurred to her, causing her to stop humming and sit upright. _What am I gonna read for the show?! Crap, what do I even do? All my stuff is too...embarrassing to read out loud, even if I had it here...Plus no one would even know what I was talking about half the time, unless they're shounen-ai fans…_ Shiori blushed at that thought and quickly covered her face with her pillow.

After a few flustered moments she recovered. "I'll...write something new, I guess," she said, "I mean...I said yesterday I should try to write original stuff more, so...yeah! I'll write a short story, and it'll be great!" She pumped her fists in the air.

Reinvigorated, Shiori got up from her bed and declared, "Time to get recruiting!" She exited her cabin and began looking around. Gorou had left, and no one else was around, although she could hear someone shouting from the soccer field. _I'll check there first,_ she thought, cutting between the cabin across from hers and the boys' bathroom building to reach it faster.

When Shiori reached the field she saw that the voice belonged to Rika, who was whooping as she did cartwheel after cartwheel across the grass. Finally she fell into the ground. "Fifteen in a row!" Rika shouted, a bit out of breath.

"Fifteen?" Shiori gasped, "That's so many!"

Rika sat up and turned to her. "Oh hi Shiori! Do you wanna play? I forgot to ask Karen, and Mr. Green just likes to watch." She gestured to a patch of grass where Shiori now saw a small stuffed bear, the type found in a mall claw machine game.

Shiori paused. "Uh...sure, I guess?" _I haven't played outside in a long time, but it might be nice to get some exercise..._

"Okay!" said Rika as she easily jumped to her feet and tapped Shiori on the shoulder, "Tag! You're it!"

* * *

 _The two girls ran around the soccer field; Rika was in much better shape than Shiori, so it took quite some time for her to catch Rika. Once she finally did, she fell on her knees, panting._

SHIORI: I think...that's enough Tag…

RIKA: Aw, but I wanna keep playing!

SHIORI: We don't have to stop playing, necessarily. We could play…

[Cobs and Robbers]

 ** _[Shiritori]_**

[Rock Paper Scissors]

SHIORI: ...Shiritori? That way we can rest a bit.

SHIORI: _Plus I happen to be pretty good at it. Helps to be a writer when you play word games..._

RIKA: What's shiritori?

SHIORI: You've...never heard of it?

RIKA: No. What is it?

SHIORI: Well uh...It's word game where one person says a noun, and then the next person has to say another noun that starts with the sound the last word ended with, and you keep going until someone messes up or repeats a word.

RIKA: And whoever losses does push ups!

SHIORI: Uh, no… I mean you could do that, but it isn't like, an official rule.

RIKA: Huh, I've never played a game with another person that was so...still! That's sounds fun!

SHIORI: Wait, what sort of games have you played with people?

RIKA: Well, my managers or trainers played tag with me for stamina! Or dodgeball for evasion and reflexes! And we'd keep score when we spar sometimes; does that count?

SHIORI: _It's all connected to her training...Wow, that's...kinda sad..._

RIKA: And I'd play with Mr. Green and the other bears! They're good for playing, but they aren't _people_ people.

SHIORI: Well uh, it seems that they kept you entertained, so that's what's important. How about we start the game, if you wanna try it?

RIKA: Yeah!

 _They played a few round of shiritori, which Shiori won quite quickly. However, the whole time Rika had an intensely focused expression, and each time she came up with a word, she grinned and looked to Shiori._

* * *

"That was so fun, Shiori!" Rika said when the last game was finished, "Thanks so teaching it to me!"

"It's fine!" Shiori giggled. Suddenly she remembered the talent show and cleared her throat. "Oh! And I wanted to ask you something. Hideyo and I are planning a talent show! We're uh, not sure when it'd be, but if you wanted, you could show off some of your moves for it, maybe...if that's a thing you can do with uh, gladiator moves…"

Rika's eye lit up. "Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!" She bounced up and down eagerly. "I'll show you all of my moves! It won't be the same as a fight, but you'll get to see Atomic Rika in action!"

"Great!" said Shiori, "I'll let you know when it'll be, once we decide." She waved to Rika as she went to check out the rest of the area. No one was at the still locked tower, but Take, Homura, and Seihiko stood together at the tree line on the far side of the pond. Take was fiddling with Seihiko's yo-yo, and Homura was skipping stones across the pond. Despite having to use her left hand, she get them to skip easily across the pond, always right in the direction she aimed.

"Hey guys!" Shiori shouted across the pond, waving to catch their attention.

Seihiko looked up immediately from where he was watching Take and the yo-yo. "Oh hey! Did you forget something you wanted to say at the meeting?" He shouted back.

"No! It's a new thing!" she replied, "We're planning a talent show at the stage in the mess hall and I wanted to know if you guys would wanna perform in it?"

Take and Homura now looked up at Shiori. Seihiko smiled and said, "That's sounds really cool! I can do my new freestyle routine I've been working on."

"And!" Take said as he stood and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, "You and Homura can help me with a pick-pocketing demonstration." He grabbed Homura's arm, helping her up as he looked to Shiori. "Group performances are fine, right Miss Leader?"

"Sure, I don't see why not," Shiori said.

"Great!" said Take, finally releasing Homura and Seihiko.

"Will there be prizes and stuff?" Homura asked before giving Take a playful look, "Because if there are, I'm not gonna tone down my own act just cause I'm in yours too, Take."

Take in turn gave her a wolfish grin. "Oh really?"

Seihiko looked at the ground, biting his lip and tapping a finger against his leg.

"It's not a competition!" Shiori said, laughing, "It's just for fun to perform for each other!"

Take seemed a bit disappointed, but Homura simply shrugged and Seihiko actually looked much more relaxed.

 _These three are not a group I would have expected,_ Shiori thought, _But at least people are making friends._ She turned to leave and said, "We can make more specific plans for when later! Maybe at dinner or something!"

Once Shiori had left the group, she stomach grumbled and she realized its was well past noon. _Wow; without my phone, I didn't even realize how much time has passed._ She walked across the soccer field to the path to the mess hall on the other side. As passed the buildings in the central area, she thought she saw movement in the nature center, but she figured it was probably Kenji, considering how interested he'd been in the building yesterday.

When she opened the door to the mess hall she saw that it was empty; the clock on the wall said it was already one-thirty in the afternoon, so she guessed most people had already gotten any food they wanted. Still, she ducked into the kitchen. When she opened the fridge, she saw that besides the food it had been pre-loaded with, people had already started storing other food inside. The entire bottom shelf was claimed by Kokoa's chocolates, with a large 'Do not touch' sign on them. Another person had made simple ham sandwiches, and these said 'Please feel free!' Shiori shrugged and grabbed one of the sandwiches.

Back out in the main area, she poked her head into the laundry room, which was next to the kitchen, to see if she could anyone else for the talent show. Instead, Shiori found that Mr. Saiki scrubbing the red polo shirt he'd been wearing this morning in one of the big sinks. It had a white stain running down the front.

"Hey Mr. Saiki!" Shiori said. _This is perfect! I can talk to him about the talent show!_

He jumped slightly. "Oh, Shiori," he said, "I didn't hear you come in." He saw the sandwich in her hand. "I'm glad you found the sandwiches. I realized that no one had set a specific time for lunch, since when I came in I found some people had already come by, so I guess I...wanted to help out…?" He trailed off, sweating nervously.

Shiori looked at him blankly, remembering the rice from this morning, and then blurted out, "Do you stress cook, Mr. Saiki?"

He straightened up and breathed in sharply, but then rubbed his arm sheepishly. "It's more that when I get into the rhythm of repetitive tasks and I'm thinking too much I kinda...go overboard. Thankfully I didn't use up all of the bread and ham. That's how I got mayonnaise in my shirt. Thankfully my shirt from yesterday is still clean..."

Shiori smiled, trying to suppress a laugh. "Yep. Good thing." Mr. Saiki blushed a little and turned away back to his stained shirt, but she came over to the side of the sink. "Actually I have something I need to talk to you about!" she said, "See Hideyo and I came up with this great idea; we should have a talent show! We can show off our skills have have some fun while we wait for the police to find us!"

Mr. Saiki looked at her with a thoughtful expression, but then replied, "I think that sounds like a good activity. We'll need to figure out a way to let everyone know, which is turning out to be harder than I thought…"

Shiori frowned and asked, "Why? There's an intercom system; can't you use that?"

"No," he said, his voice darkening, "Only Monokuma can use that...I don't even know where the set up is…" That last bit was whispered, his head turned into his shoulder.

Shiori bit her lip. _Maybe I wasn't supposed to hear that last bit._ "Well uh, since all the cabins are near each other, we can at least count on people being around there at bedtime! We can tell everyone then, if not at dinner!"

Mr. Saiki stood tall again. "Right. Now, what do you and Hideyo already have planned?"

Shiori excited told Mr. Saiki about the backdrops, Kashie agreeing to be MC, and who'd already agreed to perform.

"It looks like you're already doing some good work," he said when she finished, "How about I work with Hideyo to figure out how to set up the backdrops, and how to set up the chairs for the performance? And once you have everyone who's going to perform settled, we can plan some time to work out the order of the show. We could probably get everything ready to have the show tomorrow night, or maybe the day after."

"Assuming we aren't found by then, obviously," Shiori said.

"Right, right…" Mr. Saiki trailed off for a moment, once again in deep thought, but he soon snapped back to Shiori. "I think that's enough for now. Go ahead and keep planning, and we can talk at dinner."

"Okay!" she said, and exited the laundry room. _Thank goodness he decided to help!_ she thought as she wandered back out of the mess hall, _I hadn't even thought about how to actually rig up the backdrops._

Suddenly, she noticed that someone was standing by the corral fence. A certain tall and handsome someone— _Come one Shiori, you can't get all mushy every time you see Isao! This isn't a shoujo manga, and even in those pining never works out well in those!_

She collected herself as she made her way over to Isao, who'd placed his foot on one of the cross pieces of the fence and was stretching over it. "Hey Isao, what's up?" Shiori said, trying to keep things casual even as her flush threatened to reach her ears.

"Oh hi. I'm fine, just trying to keep on my stretching and exercises," he said, "This is actually the only place in the whole camp with a bar that's even close to the right height."

"Right! Bar stuff! That's...a thing I know about!" Internally, Shiori groaned. _Oh my god; can you get any more awkward._

Isao smiled slightly. "It is what they show in movies about ballet a lot, so that makes sense."

Shiori threw her shoulders back."Um! Also! We're planning a talent show! Uh, Hideyo and I, and I guess Mr. Saiki since he's helping set up the stage but anyway, you should definitely be in it!" She finally took a breath.

"That sounds wonderful!" Isao said as his eyes lit up, "Who else is performing?"

"Uh, just Rika, Take, Homura, and Seihiko for now. And Kashie's gonna be the MC! I haven't gotten to ask the other's yet."

"What about you?" he said.

"Ah! I was uh, gonna write something and then read it out loud," she said sheepishly, "I haven't started on that yet…"

"Well if you've been running around tell people about the show all day, when would you have had time?" He turns around begins stretching his other leg. "How about you take a break and work on it? There'll be time to tell everyone."

Shiori paused, but nodded. "Yeah, I could use a bit of a break...Do you mind if I...do that here?" She drummed her fingers against each other nervously.

"Of course not, as long as me practicing a routine won't distract you," he said, waving a hand over his shoulder.

Quietly, Shiori sat down on the grass, pulled up her Monopad's Note app, and began to write.

* * *

 _The two continued in silence for a while, Shiori alternating between typing on her Monopad and watching Isao as he finished stretching and began dancing in the open grassy area just beyond the corral. Eventually she put down her writing in frustration._

SHIORI: Uh, I can't seem to think of anything…

ISAO: Writers block?

SHIORI: Yeah; I just don't know where to start…What's the dance you're doing? Is it from something?

ISAO: It's from Swan Lake. I've been learning Siegfried: uh, that's the prince. It's his Act I solo.

SHIORI: Oh! I've heard of Swan Lake...

SHIORI: _It's honestly one of like, three ballets I know by name..._

[It's...about swans.]

[It's by that one Russian composer.]

 ** _[It's an original story.]_**

SHIORI: It has an original story inspired by different fairy tales. I've heard of ballets adapted from real fairy tales and things, but Swan Lake manages to be in that same style while also being kinda different.

ISAO: Uh-huh! Of course you'd mention the story, being a writer.

SHIORI: Well uh...yeah I guess. But honestly the story is pretty interesting! Transformations and deceptions and things...I don't know many ballets, but of the ones I do know it's definitely my favorite. Do you have a favorite ballet?

ISAO: Oh gosh, I could never pick just one...I do love Swan Lake though, especially the scene with Odile where she tricks the prince. It's just so dramatic. Even if the understudy rehearsals were uh...kind of awkward…

SHIORI: _Understudy...that's like, the backup person who knows the part incase the main person can't perform…_

SHIORI: Why's that? Did the understudy not know the dance?

ISAO: No...uh, actually it's because the understudy was my sister…

SHIORI: Wait! You have a sister? And you _both_ dance? That's so cool!

ISAO: Yeah, Takara. She's my twin, and we both go to the same dance academy…Hey, why don't you write your story based on some fairy tale elements? That way you have a starting place, but you can still mix it up?

SHIORI: ...Sure, that could be fun! I'll try it out.

SHIORI: _Why did he change subjects so quickly? Maybe there's more to his relationship with his sister...But I'll wait to ask; I don't want to pry…_

 _With this Shiori turned back to her writing and Isao resumed practicing his routine._

* * *

In the end the two stayed by the barn until late afternoon. Shiori read over what she's written, nodding. _This'll work; a little simple, but emulating fairytale style prose was fun._ Isao leaned against the fence nearby, having finished practicing his routine. Shiori carefully avoided staring at his shirt, which clung to his chest from sweat.

"What's you end up coming up with?" Isao asked, glancing over her shoulder at her Monopad.

"Hey, no peeking!" she said, holding the tablet away and out of his sight, "You gotta wait for the show with everyone else."

Isao gave a small laugh. "Guess I can wait."

Shiori opened her mouth to reply, but the crackle of static from the intercom system stopped her.

"Attention everyone! This is an important announcement from the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students! " cried the voice of Monokuma, "All campers and staff are to report to the mess hall immediately for a special meeting! Failure to attend will result in punishment, so you better get going! Upupupu!"

Shiori looked at Isao, who had gone stock still. Tentatively, she stood and stepped towards him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Isao shook his head and fixed his glasses. "I...I'd just almost forgotten about that stupid bear. I thought...I don't know what I thought…"

"I don't think we should worry," Shiori said in reassurance, "Whatever Monokuma wants to say, we know we don't have to listen! We can work together against him."

"Right," he replied, nodding, "Let's get going then, so we can get this over with quickly."

The duo quickly made their way to the Mess Hall. Kenji and Hideyo were already there, and the rest of the students arrived soon after. Mr. Saiki stood stiffly on the stage, glancing around at everyone.

Shiori and Isao quietly joined Hideyo where she stood by one of the tables. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" asked Hideyo, wringing her hands.

"Nope," said Shiori, slowly looking around at the others. Some, like Kashie, Seihiko, and Kenji, seemed nervous, while others, such as Akiko, Gorou, and Haruto, seemed more agitated. The only person who seemed completely at ease was Ikeda. _I guess if you're an interrogator, you learn to hide how you're feeling,_ Shiori thought, _That or none of this fazes him...not sure which of those is more likely…_

After about of minute of tense silence, Gorou shouted, "Hey Monokuma! We're all here! Get on with whatever crap you have planned!"

"Hey Teach, you know what's going on?" asked Akiko. "Where the hell's the bear?"

Mr. Saiki took a small step back. "I— that is, I'm sure that—"

Before he could finish, Monokuma suddenly dropped down from the cycling above the stage, just as he had the day before. "Now this is what I like to see!" the bear crowed, "Distrust! Suspicion! Everyone on edge! But there's something missing..." Monokuma dramatically point his paw out at the students. "No murders! All these different groups and personalities crashing together, but still no death!"

Gorou gawked. "It's been barely a day! What did you even expect?"

"I know a day might seem like not enough time," Monokuma sighed, "But every time I hope for the day one of bastards kills without me having to get so involved."

Mr. Saiki frowned deeply at that comment, but Akiko spoke before he could say whatever he was thinking. "You're already involved! You freaking kidnapped us!"

"I know, but if I leave you alone here you just get bored enough to start planning freakin' talent shows!" Monokuma boomed. Shiori and Hideyo jumped. _How did he know about that? Does he have microphones hidden everywhere with the cameras?_ "Therefore! I have gathered you here to present to you a motive!"

The students collectively stared at Monokuma. Even Mr. Saiki seemed shocked.

Monokuma grinned, pacing as he continued. "That's right kids! I have come up with an additional incentive to kill, since you seem perfectly content just waiting for rescue that's never gonna come! Mr. Saiki, the curtain!"

Mr. Saiki stood frozen for a moment, before jumping to attention. "Uh, right!" He quickly ran off the side of the stage, and soon the curtains swung open.

"I now present Monokuma's patented 'Get Rich Quick Kits!'" Monokuma said as he posed presentationally. Behind him on the stage were sixteen metal briefcases, each one on a simple metal stand. Every briefcase had one of the student's talents written on it. Despite herself, Shiori was immediately drawn to her own case.

Monokuma turned back to the crowd. "I have specially designed these kits with everything each of you would need to get rich from your talent! Contacts for managers and other important people in your fields! Resumes, letters of recommendation! Even some blackmail material to make sure you can get the proper favors! And of course, some cold hard cash to get you going! With this kit, I can guarantee that, if you use it right, you'll be famous worldwide within a year!"

The room went deadly quiet. Shiori did not dare look at her fellow students as dread froze her in place. _It's fake, it has to be fake!_ she told herself, but some small part of her mind danced with visions of publishing contracts and book tours. She shook her head. _No! It's not worth it, even if it was real!_ Still, she could not shake the deep feeling in her gut that, for someone in this room, it very well might be...

* * *

 _Hey everyone. I'm sorry this chapter took so long; I've been very busy the past month. Still, I hope it was worth the wait. Now next chapter will be following Mr. Saiki, so I'm creating a poll for which students you want to go talk to him. Just for the sake of variety while there are still so many characters, if there are any ties in the poll, I will choose characters that did not have freetime events with Shiori. Speaking of which, the chapter after the next one will have the last two of Shiori's freetime events, so don't worry about those; they're coming. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. Thanks for reading!_


	6. Chapter 1 (part 2)

Silence reigned in the mess hall as Reijirou tried to process what Monokuma had just told them. _A 'Get Rich Quick Kit'...could it be real?_ He carefully glanced around at the students; their faces held various shades of shock, confusion, and fear. _It doesn't matter if it's real..._ he decided, ... _what matters is how it affects them. I've got to convince them even the possibility those cases are real isn't worth it!_

Finally the moment of silence that had seemed infinite ended as Gorou gave out a harsh laugh. "I can't believe you think we'll buy this! Do you think we're that desperate for fame?"

"And how are you so sure you know you fellow students as well as you think?" Monokuma replied, voice calm and cold, "Weren't you one of the one's going on about not trusting others? How can you be sure no one here is greedy enough to kill for a chance at fame?"

Gorou froze, fists shaking at his side. Soon, some of students began talking over each other.

"Would anyone do that?" said Seihiko, knees trembling.

"I've seen people kill for less," said Ikeda.

"But those were actual criminals!" Homura retorted, "We're just high schoolers!"

Ikeda's expression darkened. "Cruelty and greed know no age."

"That's right!" cried Monokuma, "If there's one thing you can count on in this world, it's that everyone has the potential to kill; it just takes pushing the right buttons! Upupupu!" Monokuma once again disappeared into the trap door in the stage floor. As he did, the pedestals with the cases descended as well.

An almost tangible shutter swept the room, as each student tried to grasp what had just happened. Karen's face paled as she sat down in a chair. Akiko brought her fist down on one of the tables with a clatter. Isao's eyes seemed to have glazed over. Hideyo clung to Shiori's arm, and even Remy gripped his camera with shaking hands.

Reijirou felt his heart beat fast in his chest. His mind raced with possible words of comfort or instruction, but they seemed to stick in his throat as he seconded guessed himself. _What if I can't convince them? What if I make Monokuma angry and he kills me, or takes its out on them? I can't leave them here alone but I can't say nothing—!_ However, even as his brain seemed to fill with static _,_ he forced himself to breath in and out, counting with the breaths to slow down his thoughts.

"Okay everyone," Reijirou said after collecting himself, "This is...a very jarring piece of news. How about we stay here for a bit and talk about this?"

Even as some of the students began nodding, Gorou threw up his hands with a frustrated groan. "What's there to talk about!? Unless you guys are _fucking morons,_ no one's gonna take that bear's stupid bait! And considering people have apparently been planing _talent shows,_ it looks like we've given up on trying to escape—"

"That's not true!" shouted Haruto, pointing his finger accusingly at Gorou, "I'll have you know I have been working all day to find a means of escape."

"And you found anything?" Gorou asked, crossing his arms.

Haruto faltered slightly. "No, not yet...but at least I've been trying! Unlike everyone else here, unless _you've_ been doing some secret sleuthing?" He began stalking towards Gorou, a fierce smile on his face. "Well, Gorou? Do _you_ suddenly think you're smart enough to solve this? How's your talent in playing with snow helped you with this mess?"

Reijirou quickly stepped between the two boys. "Haruto, that's enough. We're all dealing with the situation as best we can." Haruto's mouth gaped.

 _Not used to being confronted, huh?_ Reijirou thought.

"That...that's right!" Shiori interjected, looking up from the floor, "Not everyone is good at solving mysteries, but that doesn't mean we should just sit around waiting either! The talent show...it's meant to help us bond, and get to know each other, so things like... _this_ won't tempt us!"

"I— That's, but we— ugh…" Haruto ran his hand through his hair, gripping it as he collapsed into a chair.

Hideyo stepped up as well. "I agree with Shiori! Just because we are only acquaintances now does not mean we can't become friends, or that learning about each other isn't a worthy use of time, yes yes!"

"Not sure how one talent show is gonna get us to be close enough to call friends," said Take, "But I know I hit a dead end on those locks on the gates; those things must be some military grade shit. Looks like we're playing the waiting game, so we might as well not die of boredom, right?"

Akiko groaned. "Come on! There's gotta be something! I say we break into Monokuma's stupid trap door and face him head on!" She began stalking towards the stage.

Reijirou quickly ran to block Akiko's path. "No! No, we are not doing that! You could be seriously hurt trying to—"

"Do _not_ tell me what to do," Akiko growled, roughly shoving Reijirou out of her way and jumping up onto the stage. She began stomping harshly on the trap door, but it remained firmly shut. "Anybody know where I can get a sledge hammer?"

"It seems you have once again forgotten the rules of our predicament," said Ikeda, "We aren't allowed to destroy camp property."

"I don't care about the rules!" said Akiko, continuing her assault on the trap door, "They won't matter once I beat that bear and whoever's controlling it into the fucking ground."

In the blink of an eye Reijirou lept on stage and firmly grasped Akiko's shoulders. "They matter because breaking them could get you killed!" he shouted, looking her dead in the eyes.

Once again the room went quiet. A strange mix of anger and confusion passed over Akiko's face, but she swiftly freed herself from Reijirou's grasp. She turned to the rest of the group. "I'm gonna find a way to wreck Monokuma's shit and break out of here; anybody's welcome to join me, but none of you better get in my way." She jumped down off the stage and crossed the room, but just before she reached the doors she turned back around. "Hey Bubbly," she said, looking to Shiori, "If I don't get us outta here by day after tomorrow, I'll be in your talent show thing." With that she turned back around and left.

Reijirou watched Akiko go, hands still hanging in the air where she had shaken them loose. _Crap, crap crap. I was too forceful; I shouldn't have been so blunt...What will Monokuma say? Oh god—_

"So are we still doing a talent show?" Rika's question jerked Reijirou out of his spiraling thoughts. "Because I really wanna do it! Why can't we still do it if we end up escaping?"

"When we're...extrapolated from this island we'll all be back in our homes," said Karen, adjusting her glasses, "We would not all be together to perform a show."

"...Were you trying to say extricated?" asked Gorou, a bit incredulous.

Karen puffed up. "I know what I meant!"

"Actually!" Shiori interjected, "When we get rescued we can exchange phone numbers and set up a time to meet to have the show! How about this?" She turned to face everyone. "If the day after tomorrow we haven't gotten out of here, we can have the talent show; if we have, we can set it up later once we've recovered."

"Yay!" cheered Rika, throwing her hands into the air and turning to Karen for a high five. Karen rolled her eyes at Rika's antics, but carefully gave the high five.

"Sounds like a plan!" said Take, with Seihiko nodding beside him and Homura giving a thumbs up.

Hideyo clapped her hands. "Yes yes! A good plan!" Beside her, Isao finally came out of his stupor, smiled, and gave a sharp, decisive nod.

"I guess," Kokoa murmured, "It's not like it'll cause any harm…"

Remy released his camera and nodded slowly. "I haven't taken pictures of people in a while, but at school, I used to do the photos for the shows they did..."

"Yes! Do that!" said Shiori, giving him a big thumbs up. Remy wrinkled his eyes brows, stiffly returned the thumbs up.

Ikeda and Kenji remained silent, both in thought. However, while Ikeda seemed calm, Kenji still fidgeted with nervousness.

Gorou looked around the room, then finally huffed. "True, it's no harm...but it's still stupid!" He stalked towards the exit and out the doors. "Fine! I can't make you do something more productive and less frivolous to stave off your boredom! Just as long as your next stupid idea isn't starting the Killing Game, it doesn't matter to me!" Then he was gone.

"Why do all of our group meetings break up before we can have a real, in depth discussion…?" Reijirou said to himself, coming down from the stage and back into the middle of the room.

"It's because no one thinks of you as a real authority," said Ikeda, cooly passing Reijirou on his way out, "We've seen Monokuma show off the consequences of not listening to him, but you? There's no incentive to do what you say...outside of simple courtesy…or what pitiful level of intimidation you project naturally..." Reijirou caught a hint of a smirk on Ikeda's lips as the door shut behind him.

A sudden screech made Reijirou jump and he turned to Haruto, who had quickly stood up from his chair. Fuming and face red, Haruto stormed up to him. "You know I'm right," he said darkly, "You try to keep the peace with these simpletons, but you know they're useless when it comes to getting us out of here. That's why you side with them: to slow me down! Well it won't work! I _will_ solve this mystery, and show the world what a _real life Ultimate_ looks like!" He gave Reijirou a sharp shove and swept out of the mess hall, radiating determination and fury.

With the third dramatic exit in a row, Reijirou could feel something inside him grow cold. Suddenly he felt like the eyes of the remaining students were on him, peering into his soul and judging him. Even Shiori looked at him with something in her eyes. In the haze of his growing anxiety, he couldn't tell if it was concern, pity, or disgust. Those who looked nervous, Kenji and Kashie, glanced to Shiori. _She's the one they put their trust in...and why not? She's charismatic, and kind, and not working with a psycho bear…_

All at once, Reijirou couldn't bear the tension. "I...think we'll have a meeting later…" He took one step back before bolting to the door to his room in the back corner of the room.

Once Reijirou closed the door he sank to the ground and pulled his knees up, resting his forehead on them. He sat and focused on breathing, trying to drown out all the fears and feelings of uselessness with the sounds of his breaths. Eventually he calmed down, wiping a few stray tears from his face. "Okay Reijirou," he said to himself as he stood up, "You need a new plan, because whatever you've been doing clearly isn't working."

He stepped into his office and sat in his chair. He pulled out some paper he grabbed from the art center and a pencil, but paused before writing anything. _How do I even go about this? This isn't an essay or a client progress plan. Should I title it?_ Slowly he spoke out loud as he started to write. "Plan to get these teens to respect me enough so that I can—"

"Hey Counselor Man!" Monokuma's voice from the monitor interrupted.

"What the hell!" Reijirou said, startled.

Monokuma waved his paw as he spun in his chair. "We need to have a faculty meeting!"

Reijirou pursed his lips, trying to stay calm. "About what?"

"About you and how you haven't been doing your job!" said Monokuma said, pointing his paw accusingly.

 _Crap, is he on to me?_ Reijirou did his best to look insulted. "What problems do you have with how I've been doing?"

"All this lovey-dovey crap! Breaking up fights! Being all, ugh, reassuring!" Monokuma pointed into his mouth and made a gagging noise. "You're supposed to using your psychological crap to stir up drama! All the drama that's been happening hasn't had anything to do with you! And you've even been trying to break it up!"

Reijirou paused, carefully planning his reply. _It's a risk, but if I play it right…_ "I thought you would appreciate that I'm playing the long game, Boss."

Monokuma seemed to raise one eyebrow, despite not having them. "Oh? Care to explain your plan?"

"See, if I just start stirring trouble now, the students will immediately realize what I'm up to," Reijirou explained, hoping his nonsense was convincing, "So I'm trying to get them to like me and trust me, so they'll actually come to me for advice and share their feelings later on...And then I can pray on their insecurities and fears and uh...generally give the exact wrong advice…" _God, I feel sick saying that…_

For a moment, Monokuma was silent, and Reijirou felt himself sweating. Finally, Monokuma let out a booming laugh. "Hahahaha! Not bad! In fact, I like it! The despair they feel when they realize your betrayal will be amazing! And if you save your skills, you can make sure we get a murder if we hit a dry spell. Those tend to happen more later on."

"What do you mean?" Reijirou blurted out.

"I thought it'd be obvious!" Monokuma chuckled, "After a few murders, the ones that are most easily tempted to kill are all gone, so you gotta work harder!"

Reijirou struggled to keep the disgust out of his voice. "And… how do you know this? It sounds like...personal experience…" He honestly hoped Monokuma would give some sort of crap about survival of the fittest or crackpot psychological theories, anything to dissuade his growing suspicion. _Please tell me you haven't done this before. Please say you haven't put any other kids through this._

"Well aren't you nosy of someone who's your boss!" said Monokuma, "Besides, we've gotten off topic. I still want you to be more proactive in your work!"

Reijirou almost groaned at the deflection, but then an idea occurred to him. "Well, it's a little hard to get the students to come to my office or organize anything. I'd have to run all over to find the person. And that's not even getting into the problems we've had with planning group meetings."

Monokuma paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Looks like you didn't properly explore your office! You think I wouldn't give you a wasn't gonna give a way to call those brats here? Check in the bottom draw of the desk!"

"What? Why?" Reijirou said, leaning over to open the drawer, "I checked before and there wasn't anything—" His words died in his mouth when he saw a microphone and stand with a button on it. _That definitely wasn't here yesterday...did he sneak into the room last night? Damn that's creepy…_

Reijirou cleared his throat as he pulled the microphone up and placed it on the desk. "...Right. This connects to the intercom system?"

"Right on the money! Now, as much as I appreciate your subterfuge, it ain't gonna work if you ain't talking to these kids! So get on it! I want you to talk to at least one person today!" With one last laugh, Monokuma disappeared from the monitor as it shut off.

Staring at the microphone, Reijirou pondered who to call to the office. _I definitely wanna start talking to Gorou, 'cause I get the feeling it'll take a while to get through to him, but I bet he'll feel very threatened if I call him here, especially as the first person I talk to...Kashie could use some help, but I don't want to single her out either…_ He continued to think for a while, but eventually he came to a decision. Taking a breath, he pressed the button on the stand and spoke into the microphone.

"Hello everyone, this is your counselor, Mr. Saiki," he began, "I just now got access to the intercom system, so expect to hear me use it to call meetings or make announcements. I will also use it to call people to my office if we need to chat. One that note, Akiko Katsumi, could you please come to my office?"

He released the button and sighed. _I think she'd be wary of me regardless of when I call her, but I need to make sure doesn't get herself hurt by breaking the rules…_

After a while of jotting down some points he wanted to be sure to cover with Akiko and and pacing nervously back and forth, the door to Reijirou's office slams open. Akiko stood in the doorway, tapping her foot rapidly. "I'm giving you one minute to say whatever the hell you want before I walk away and never give you the time of day again. So you better get talking."

Reijirou stood speechless. _I...was not expecting that._

Akiko smirked. "That minute starts now, so get talking, Teach."

* * *

REIJIROU: Right, right uh...I suppose you'd prefer to stay there? But uh, feel free to sit if you want. In the chair or on the couch is fine.

AKIKO: Clock's ticking Teach. Don't waste your own time.

REIJIROU:...Of course. So, Akiko. We need to talk about your behavior in the gym earlier.

AKIKO: What about it? You gonna punish me for that little shove?

REIJIROU: No, no, but…

[I could young lady!]

 ** _[You need to work within the rules…]_**

[Quit being so reckless!]

REIJIROU: ...I do think you can...express your frustrations with Monokuma without putting yourself at risk by breaking the rules.

AKIKO: Breaking rules is my whole thing. Aka, I do whatever the fuck I want and screw the rules!

REIJIROU: _It's like talking to a brick wall! ...Let's try a more forceful approach._

REIJIROU: Okay, but also? Monokuma literally has guns in his hands and cameras everywhere. Just because you don't like rules doesn't mean he won't find ways to enforce them on you.

AKIKO: …

REIJIROU: _Am I making a breakthrough?_

REIJIROU: Listen. I do think you care about the wellbeing of everyone here...or at least some people here. If you die trying to fight Monokuma, or I have to take you out of a situation as punishment for breaking the rules, you can't help them. Can't protect them.

AKIKO: ...If I can't break the rules, I'll just find loopholes. I _will_ find a way to do what I want.

REIJIROU: _And honestly, I think I might want you to! But how to say that without...saying it, since Monokuma can hear me aparently…_

REIJIROU: Of course you will. And _if I catch you,_ we might have to have some more words! So I don't want to _see_ you skirting the rules. Alright?

AKIKO: Oh, you _definitely_ won't see me. I've got some...experience hiding from authorities.

REIJIROU: Wait, really?

AKIKO: Whoops, times up Teach.

* * *

Reijrou finally sat back down in his desk chair. "Ah, right…" He almost smiled when he saw that Akiko's stance had relaxed ever so slightly. "Well, I hope you take what I say to heart."

Akiko tossed her ponytail over one shoulder. "Doesn't matter all that much," she said, shrugging, "But I'll warn you now, if you try to call me here again by that stupid intercom, I ain't coming. No one's gonna order me around. See ya 'round, Teach." Giving Reijirou her fiercest smile, she turned and left the office.

Once Reijirou was sure she was gone, he jumped up and pumped his fists in the air. "Yes! Successful session! At least I think so…" He quickly pulled out more paper to write down notes about the session. _She seemed to get that working around the rules is safer in the long run and is still a means of rebellion. Not sure if she actually trusts me, but it's something…_

Reijirou glanced at the clock on his Monopad and realized it was already nearing dinner time. "To announce or not to announce…? Well, it's been one day. We can set a routine tomorrow." Still glowing from the success of his talk with Akiko, he walked back through his room into the mess hall.

Immediately Reijirou saw that no one was in the main area, so he walked over to the kitchen. When he entered, he found Hideyo sitting on one of the counters, a simple wrap in one hand and a red potted flower beside. When she saw him, she quickly hopped down from the counter. "Oh! Hello Mr. Saiki...How are you?" She seemed fairly cheerful, but perhaps a bit unsure of what to say.

"I'm alright," he replied, "Just thought I'd get a bit to eat for dinner."

"Yes yes! It is always good to eat a healthy meal," Hideyo said. She picked up her pot.

Reijirou gave a casual gesture towards the plant. "I didn't know you liked plants. What kind of flower is it?"

Hideyo perked up. "Oh, I do love plants and nature and things! I'd love to have a real garden; we don't really have the uh...space to have one back home." She held up the flower proudly. "It's a dahlia! I had never seen one before, but there were a few in pots in the nature center, so I decided to try caring for it."

"It certainly is pretty," Reijirou said, "Have you talked to Kenji at all about gardening? I bet he could give you some pointers."

Hideyo frowned slightly. "I'm...not super sure. He can be very rude sometimes. I saw him when I went to get the flower, and he just glared at me the whole time!"

He started a bit at that. "Really? He just seemed shy to me...then again, I guess I haven't talked to him one on one. Still, I think he might appreciate you asking for his help; it shows you value his knowledge and talent. Maybe just...don't push too hard?"

"I suppose...if I have any problems, maybe I will. Thank you for the advice!" Hideyo carefully passed by him and went out the door.

 _Goodness knows Kenji needs some more people to hang out with,_ Reijirou thought as he took a few eggs out the fridge and began searching for a pan, _The only person I've seen even try to get near him is Remy, and I can't tell if that's because he feels solidarity with another quiet person or if he just doesn't care…_ Quickly he made himself a simple omelette, which he took to sit in front of the outside door to his office. He saw Hideyo head back to the art center, and Remy laying on his stomach in the grass, his camera pointed towards the woods. The evening was calm, the heat of the afternoon fading to leave a pleasantly cool atmosphere.

 _We can't be too far from home; if we were much further north or south, the weather would be different, especially since it's early summer._ The thought that they might not be far, that the authorities might come find them quickly, gave him some hope; maybe he wouldn't have to be the responsible adult for long. But at the same time, doubt still crept in. Whoever took them clearly had a lot of time and resources to plan this, given they had a whole island of facilities and food stored for months.

Eventually Reijirou finished his food and took the plate back to the kitchen to wash it. Once he finished cleaning up, he went up onto the stage. _Let's see if I can figure out that trap door._ He examined the trap door that Monokuma had disappeared through. He could see no evidence of Akiko's stomping, and no obvious handle or even hinges. He sighed. _Of course we can't just open it if Monokuma uses it to go back to his control room or whatever._

Absently he glanced up at the system of lights, poles, and cables above. He walked over to the side of the stage to examine the various pulleys that held up the poles the lights hung from. _Maybe I can figure out if we can lower a pole to attach a backdrop to._ Each of the pulleys bore a label, and at the very end he found one labelled 'background.' Smiling, he slowly and carefully began to use the pulley to lower down a pole. It had no clips or other means of attaching anything. He frowned. _I'll need to ask Hideyo if the backdrops themselves have a means of being attached._ He looked around backstage a bit more, and found that on the left side there was a doorway with a black cloth hanging in it. Poking his head through, he found that it lead to a short set of stairs and a hallway that lead behind the stage back to the right side.

Having explored the stage area to his liking, Reijirou headed back to his room. Quickly he grabbed his planning sheet from his office and jotted down some notes about his plans for tomorrow, forcing himself to really get detailed. _Clearly playing it by ear won't work this time, so it's time to get a plan up to textbook standards._ He held up the plan as he reviewed it. _Yeah! I could turn this in and get a freaking A+ on! If I had assignments about helping kids deal with being kidnapped and avoiding killing each other...instead of just lesson plans...or session notes…_

When Reijirou finished the plan, he took a quick shower and headed to bed, despite the crazy energy still racing through his body.

* * *

The next morning, Reijirou later decided his nervous energy was the resason he woke up almost an hour before the morning announcement. In the end he was only angry for a minute before he picked his his planning sheet and got to work.

"Number one: check the supplies in the first aid kit. If it is not sufficiently stocked, get extra supplies from the health center." Reijirou was thankful that none of the students were around to hear his habit of reading his schedule out loud. _I'll only have to worry about Monokuma calling me a weirdo._ Opening the first aid kit he found that it was exceptionally well stocked; he'd been nervous it would be nothing but standard bandages, antibiotic ointment and maybe some roller bandages. Instead it had that and much more, including a few apparatus that Reijirou wasn't even sure how to operate. "Well...Awesome!"

After that success, Reijrou stood back up at got out the list. "Okay, number two: regardless of result of number one, go to the health center and familiarize yourself with the equipment there." Reijirou almost stepped out of the front office door before he realized he was still wearing his pajamas.

Once he was dressed, Reijirou headed to the health center to check it out. After exploring it from top to bottom he came the conclusion it had everything a simple family doctor's office would have, but nothing that could handle something like a surgery. And as the hour before morning announcement went on he explored each of the other buildings around the clearing.

The nature center predictably had various gardening tools and plants, but also some taxidermy animals and a falcon skeleton; it did have a chain saw, but thankfully it had no gas in it. Most of the tools were in their proper places, but a few looked liked they'd been used recently. _Probably Kenji, but I haven't actually seen a garden anywhere. I'll have to look._

Next he poked into the art center. He saw a sketch of Hideyo's dahlia, but most of the table space was covered by a half finished backdrop. As he looked over it, he realized it was an abstract version of a swirling galaxy, with blues, silvers and teals creating a calm atmosphere. On one edge he found a series of ties to secure the backdrop to the pole. Quickly he looked into the storage closet and found a seemingly endless amount of art and crafts supplies. _Too bad most teens aren't just gonna be into crafts; we could do something every day for months._

Last he walked over to the recreation building, but found that the door was locked. A sign on the door read 'Will open at a later date.' Reijirou sighed. "Wow, that's super specific and helpful."

Finally he reached number six on his schedule. "When the mess hall opens, announce a group breakfast; make coffee, tea, and hot chocolate for everyone." At first he had planned to make everyone breakfast, but then he realized he had no idea what to make or how much, so he decided to stick with drinks.

The morning announcement ended up going off just as Reijirou returned to his office. Swiftly he went over to his desk, turned on the mic and announced, "A small addendum: I'm making various hot drinks for those you decide to come get breakfast in the next couple hour or so. Have a good morning!"

When he entered the kitchen to begin making the drinks he ran into Kokoa. She was already setting out various ingredients, including cooking chocolate, of course. She glanced at him for a second, bit her lip, then turned back to her cooking. However, as he went over to the cabinets and opened the first one to look for the coffee, Kokoa said, "Coffee and tea are two cabinets over on the bottom shelf, and the cocoa is above that. If you make the cocoa with water, I will throw it out."

Reijirou gave her a small smile and replied, "Thanks, Kokoa." It took about half an hour to get enough of each drink ready and set out everything on one of the table. In the end he also brought out the orange juice. He sat at the table with his own cup of tea and a bit of toast. He had also brought a clean sheet of paper to start working on a plan for talent show, so as he waited for more students to come by, he worked on that.

The mess hall remained quiet for a while. So quiet that when someone finally picked up the hot chocolate, Reijirou almost shrieked. He looked up and saw Kashie, who jerked back and spilled some of the hot chocolate onto the table. "Oh shoot!" Reijirou said, jumping up, "Kashie, are you okay?"

Kashie slowly set down the hot chocolate, hands shaking. After a few shaky breaths she said, "I...I'm uh, okay...now, but I'm gonna...gonna just sit for a bit…" She sat carefully in the nearest chair.

"How about I pour the the hot chocolate?" Reijirou carefully poured a cup and placed it in front of Kashie.

Once that was settled, Reijirou sat back down too. As they waited for the cocoa to cool a bit, he glanced towards the door to see if anyone was coming. _This might be a good time to talk, so she doesn't feel too confined._

* * *

REIJIROU: So, Kashie. How was your day yesterday?

KASHIE: It was...fine...I found a book to read...

REIJIROU: That's good...I think that people were a bit concerned that you didn't sleep inside. And I know I wouldn't want you to get cold or be caught outside if it rained.

KASHIE: Oh...that...that was uh, I mean, I slept inside last night.

REIJIROU: _Well that's a good sign! At least she's a bit less paranoid…_

REIJIROU: So, I heard Shiori asked you to be the master of ceremonies for the talent show. Do you think you'll do it?

KASHIE: I...I put off deciding until today…

REIJIROU: Well then…

[It's your talent; you gotta do it!]

[Whatever you think it best...]

 ** _[We'll be happy with you even if you get nervous.]_**

REIJIROU: ...this is a very casual thing; even if you were nervous, we'd all just be happy to see you participating.

KASHIE: Oh! I hadn't thought of it...like that…do you really think so?

REIJIROU: Yeah! It's just a simple showcase among friends, not a competition or a formal presentation.

KASHIE: I don't...I mean, uh, you think we'll be uh, friends? By then? I know that...friends would be supportive...

REIJIROU: _Looks like she isn't sure she won't be laughed at…_

REIJIROU: Well, I certainly hope we will. And I'll be at the talent show to help moderate; I'll make sure there is absolutely no heckling or rube behavior. Even if you don't feel like we'll be friends by then, I promise the talent show will be civil and a judgement free zone.

KASHIE: Really…?

REIJIROU: Of course! The whole point of the show is for us to share our talents with each other in a safe environment. It's a time to show something we're proud of, not to feel like others are laughing at us! Unless someone's doing a comedy act, in which case it uh, would be okay to laugh but…

KASHIE: Heh heh...I guess...if you put it that way...I could...It wouldn't be harder than the, the competitions I've done.

REIJIROU: Right! Although I'm sure you did your best in those competitions.

REIJIROU: _Also holy crap I think that was a laugh! And an actual smile!_

KASHIE: Not...not always but...thanks? It's...nice, to have someone be, uh, encouraging.

REIJIROU: What kind of counselor would I be if I didn't encourage my students?

KASHIE: ...I guess that's true…

* * *

The two drifted into a comfortable silence. Kashie slowly took a sip of her hot chocolate, glancing at Reijirou with her small smile. Reijirou simply nodded and kept on eating his toast. _Sometimes just existing in the same space as another person can build trust._

Eventually more of the students drifted into the mess hall. Like yesterday, Shiori, Hideyo, and Isao sat and ate together, with Isao eating at least three times as much as the others. Reijirou made a mental note about that. _I know he exercises a lot,_ he thought as he watched Isao eye the girls while he ate, _But the possessiveness is concerning._

Take, Seihiko, and Homura sat together, with Take snatching bits off of both of his companion's plate. He heard laughing and some playful teasing, which Reijirou took to be a good sign.

Most of the rest of the students ate on their own. Remy and Kenji once again sat at tables alone and ate in silence. Gorou, Haruto, and Akiko simply grabbed something portable from the kitchen and exited the mess hall without acknowledging anyone. Ikeda began to do the same, but Karen waved to him from her table.

"Oh, Ikeda, would you like to sit down?" she asked, "I thought we could...palaver some books we've read or—"

"Well firstly," Ikeda interrupted, "Do you realize that palaver means to talk profusely, which you tend to do despite not even knowing what the words you use even mean? Secondly, I have no interest in talking with someone about something they clearly only try to like in an attempt to sound smart. And thirdly, I'm not even all that interested in literature; try talking to Miss Writer." Before Karen could reply or Reijirou could intervene, Ikeda walked out of the mess hall.

Karen stared after him in absolute horror. Her face turned as red as a tomato, and her hands clenched into shaking fists at her sides.

Rika, who had seen the exchange from the door to the kitchen, walked over to Karen. "I think you're smart Karen! I'll talk to you about books, even though I haven't read many!"

Quickly Rika tried to grab Karen's hand, but Karen wrenched her hands away. "Stop that! I...I just want to be left alone."

"But you seem sad!" Rika said, frowning.

Karen groaned and said, "I know, and when _I'm_ sad I need some time for myself." She wiped at her slightly teary eyes and quietly left the room.

In the end, Rika joined Shiori's table for breakfast, but now the mood was somber. After a while everyone had drifted out. Once everyone had gone, Reijirou went back to his office and wrote out some proper notes about his talk with Kashie, as well as his suspicions about Isao and the scene with Ikeda, Karen, and Rika. Looking back at his plan, he read the next step. 'Number eight: If you have any immediate behavior problem that needs addressing, call relevant student for a meeting. If not, announce a period for walk-in time.' While Ikeda's attitude towards Karen concerned him, the interrogator was a can of worms he was not quite ready to open. So instead he made the announcement.

When he finished that, he sat down and cracked his knuckles. "Alright then, time for number nine: use the free time until lunch to work on a possible order for the talent show." Returning to the talent show sheet, he started in on the work.

* * *

In the end, no one came for sessions, but Reijirou finished an order for the talent show he felt would give good variety, and ensured no one went directly after a talent they were likely to feel too upstaged by. He also left some time at the end in case more people had asked Shiori to be in the show since yesterday.

He grabbed one of the sandwiches from yesterday and went back to the office. His plan was to enact the next step on his schedule, but when he returned, he found Seihiko waiting, idly using his yo-yo as he sat on the couch.

"Oh hey!" Reijirou said, quickly pushing all of the papers covering his desk and sliding into his chair, "What's up Seihiko?"

"Hi! So uh, I wanted to talk about the talent show?" Seihiko flicked his yo-yo back up and caught it quickly. He swiftly moved to the chair, sitting up very straight with his hands in his lap. "I just have some concerns about how it'll go."

Reijirou paused for a moment. _Considering he came to me, I'm not sure if the concerns are just about the procedure or if there's something deeper...And I haven't noticed too many issues with Seihiko, besides being a bit shy perhaps._ After the short moment of pondering, he said, "Of course. I'd be happy to hear what you have to say."

* * *

SEIHIKO: Well uh, I don't know if Shiori mentioned it to you, but she said that the talent show wasn't going to be a competition?

REIJIROU: She did. And that's still the plan as far as I'm concerned.

SEIHIKO: See, I thought so, but uh...Take is still acting like it will be? Like, he's bragging about how he's gonna win, or steal the prize if he doesn't?

REIJIROU: _Wait, really? I know he's a bandit, but is he also a kleptomaniac?_

SEIHIKO: And I'm worried that his attitude is gonna cause problems?

REIJIROU: Well, thanks for giving me a heads up. I'll keep that in mind while I'm setting up the show. But I am wondering…

 ** _[What made you decide it was up to you to fix it?]_**

[Is Take's behavior really your business?]

[Is there some secret insecurity your hiding that made you ask me?]

REIJIROU: Why did you bring this issue to me? I'm pretty sure if something ended up happening I would have handled it even if I hadn't known ahead of time. Just trying to be helpful?

SEIHIKO: I mean...basically? I don't want him to take something that's supposed to be fun and make it all about winning…

REIJIROU: Alright, I get that. In this context a contest definitely wouldn't have been appropriate. But you do competitions for your yo-yoing, right? So you know that competitions can be fun too.

SEIHIKO: Sure, sure! Competitions are definitely fun for me! I get to try out new tricks and routines and get feedback on them. They're great!

REIJIROU: _Woah, slow down! Seems like he's gotten nervous._

REIJIROU: ...Do I sense a 'but' coming?

SEIHIKO: Um...well, but not everyone sees competition that way...People can get too competitive, forget to be creative and get caught up in just...tearing other people down.

REIJIROU: _Okay okay okay, what was that? It feels like there's a story there, and it's bad._

REIJIROU: ...Seihiko, do you deal with people like that a lot? Like, on a personal basis.

SEIHIKO: Uh, not really? I mean, there's almost always one person like that at a competition, but I just ignore them! Anyway, thanks for the reassurance, Mr. Saiki!

* * *

Before Reijirou could press him any further, Seihiko jumped up from his chair and left the office, forgetting to close the door behind him. Reijirou ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Okay...Seihiko, does _not_ do well with direct questions, at least about his talent." He began to write down some notes, but then he paused. "Or maybe it was more to do with his past? Ugh, of course it's not obvious…"

Either way, he finished his notes as he finished his forgotten sandwich, then went back to his plan. "So then...number ten: when finished with afternoon work, announce a meeting for everyone planning to participate in the talent show to discuss the order and other logistics. Maybe help with some preliminary set up?" He wasn't sure how long it would take to help Hideyo set up her backdrop, but he wanted that done today rather than tomorrow so they could have time to fix it if something happened because they set it up wrong.

Clearing up his papers, Reijirou made the announcement. Overall, he felt the day was going well; despite the motive Monokuma set up yesterday, and a few smaller personal problems he was just beginning to catch onto, no major conflicts had come up. If the group could hold on a bit longer and continued to grow closer at the rate they were, or even faster, they would be able to resist Monokuma long enough to be rescued. _Don't get cocky,_ he chided himself, _There's still a lot that could go wrong...But still, we could be so much worse._

* * *

 _Here we are! I hope it was fun to follow Reijirou again. I definitely enjoyed writing the sessions he had with the students; although I've formatted them similarly to the freetime events, Reijirou goes into them with a very different purpose than Shiori does when she's hanging out with people. Anyway, things are moving along in the plot at about the pace I was hoping for, despite my somewhat slow writing pace. Next time, we are back with Shiori, see her other two freetimes, and finally get to talent show day! Will it go off without a hitch? Well, you know what sort of story this is...Till next time!_


	7. Chapter 1 (part 3)

Shiori swung her feet nervously as she waited for the talent show meeting Mr. Saiki just called to properly begin. After Monokuma's presentation of the motive yesterday she'd been antsy; that evening she had been so distressed she went to bed early, only to lay awake before crashing into a restless and dreamless sleep. That morning she had finally taken some quiet time to recover. By now, she felt mostly herself again. _But I'll be much better when all of this is over,_ she thought, _And we won't have that motive or Monokuma hanging over our heads._

Shiori glanced over at the other students who'd shown up. Hideyo sat beside her, painting some final touches onto her backdrop. Isao leaned against one wall while Remy stood beside him, fiddling with his camera. Take, Homura, and Seihiko sat at the other table. Rika sat on a stool petting her stuffed bear. Even Kashie had come, although she stood by the door, seemingly eager to make a quick exit if need be.

Finally, Mr. Saiki finished sorting through his papers. "Okay then, now let's begin. I have made a program for the performance, so we know what order the acts will be in. But really quick, Shiori, did anyone else tell you they had an act they wanted to do?"

"Uh, no," Shiori replied, "I mean, Akiko is sort of a...maybe? But no, no one else wants to perform."

Remy raised his hand. "I'm just gonna take pictures...usually I don't do people...but this time I will. And I'll print them later...It'll have to be on normal paper; this place doesn't have proper photo paper." Having said his piece, Remy lowered his hand and returned to his camera.

Hideyo giggled a bit at that. "Tee hee hee! Well that's good! I can sketch pretty fast, but not fast enough to get anything I could then paint. But the backdrop is just about done, yes yes!"

Mr. Saiki nodded. "Alright then! So, the order for the show will be Rika, Seihiko, Homura, Isao, Shiori, Take, and then Akiko last, if she comes."

"Yay! I'm first!" cheered Rika.

 _Good thing too,_ thought Shiori, _I don't know how long she'd be able to wait without getting impatient._

Take leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "Good thinking putting me last; no one would want to have to follow up my amazing talent."

"Sure, sure," said Homura, giving him a playful jab, "Have fun waiting through everyone else's performances. Going in the middle is totally the best, 'cause then you don't have to worry about not being prepared, but you also don't have time to work yourself up."

"Ah, but if you're the middle, the judges won't even remember you," Take said, leaning back in and then turning to Seihiko, "Ain't that right, buddy?"

Seihiko cleared his throat. "Uh, technically that's sometimes true, but—"

"As we have previously established, this is not going to a competition," Mr. Saiki continued, giving Take a pointed look. "It's more of a showcase, a chance for us to share, not compete."

Take frowned for a second, seeming perhaps displeased, but then he shrugged. "Right, of course it's not _really_ a competition…but people'll still rank us in their minds; it's just human nature to compare things. You'd know that, as a psychologist or whatever?"

"I thought he was a counselor..." Rika mumbled to herself.

"Hmm, but comparison is gonna be tricky when we have acts as varied as ours." Mr. Saiki recollected himself, turning back to his papers, "Anyway, moving on, tomorrow after dinner I will start setting up the mess hall so we have some chairs in rows. Everyone is welcome to come help with that." A round of nodding passed through the room. "Alright, so for the show itself you should head backstage during the act before yours so Kashie can introduce you quickly, and when you're done you can return to the audience."

"Oh! Should we have someone backstage in case something happens with the curtain or the backdrop?" Hideyo asked, "I could do that!"

Shiori smiled a bit and nudged her friend. "Is that so you can be closer to your precious painting?" she asked.

Hideyo gave an over the top gasp. "Shiori! Are you implying I am overprotective of my artwork?"

Isao, now in on the joke, said, "Well, you didn't want anyone touching your flower painting before."

"Ah! But that one's not finished! Once my piece is finished, I can release it out into the world!" Still, Hideyo laughed and continued, "Honestly, I've just always thought it might be interesting to work in a theater; it's a very different kind of painting, but a lot of people make a living out of it."

"Maybe you can come and paint my school's ballet sets once we're out of here," said Isao.

Shiori bit her lip as a small stab of jealousy pierced her stomach. _No, don't be dumb Shiori; it's fine for Isao to say nice things to people that aren't you, especially since Hideyo is our friend._ Still, she found herself blushing.

"Yes, Hideyo, I think it would be good to have someone else backstage with Kashie," said Mr. Saiki, bringing the conversation back on topic, "Since the curtain is fairly easy to open and close, Hideyo can handle opening it at the beginning of the show and closing it at the end. Just make sure Kashie is ready."

"Uh...sure!" Hideyo turned to Kashie. "I'll be extra careful with the curtain. We'll be a good team." Kashie frowned. Shiori recalled that morning when Hideyo accidentally made a dent in one cabinet with the handle of another when she threw it open too hard. Kashie had seen it. Carefully, Shiori gave Kashie a thumbs up from behind Hideyo. _It'll be okay; the curtain won't hurt you, even if she closes it on you._ Kashie, still a bit cautious, gave a slow nod.

"When exactly will the show begin?" asked Homura Mr. Saiki, "I wanna just make sure I'm not late or anything."

"Oh yes yes!" Hideyo added, "I'll probably want an extra reminder tomorrow too, if that's possible?" Rika, looking up from her bear, nodded vigorously in agreement.

"How about 7:00, so we can start at 8:00?" Mr. Saiki answered, "Although you're free to come earlier. I think the whole show shouldn't be too long, so we'll be out of the mess hall before nighttime."

"Thanks so much for planning all this, Mr. Saiki," said Shiori.

Mr. Saiki waved his hand dismissively. "It's no problem. And it was thanks to you and Hideyo that we're doing this at all." He gave a quick glance to his papers, then back up at the students. "That's actually all I needed to say to everyone. I know you'll all be wonderful tomorrow, so...meeting adjourned."

With that everyone began wandering out of the art center. Eventually only Shiori, Hideyo, and Isao were left. Hideyo went over to the shelf where she'd left her flower and removed it. "I wish I could work on my flower painting more, but the light isn't right anymore now that it's so late in the afternoon. At least now I know the white bits on the ends of the petals are just coloration and not some weird plant disease; I thought I'd accidentally picked a flower that was dying."

Shiori cocked her head. "How'd you find that out? Are there plant books in the nature center?"

"No, actually," Hideyo said, "I went and talked to Kenji about it; Mr. Saiki suggested it, sorta, when I told him I like plants. It was super awkward at first, but once I told Kenji I wanted advice about my flower he started to open up more...He's still really quiet, but at least he wasn't being a jerk like before."

Isao hummed in surprise. "Strange. He seems to vacillate between wanting to be alone and seeking company."

"I know…" Shiori pondered, "Like, on the first day it seemed like he wanted to talk to Mr. Saiki, but got too scared." Suddenly she stood from her chair. "Hideyo! Where did you find Kenji earlier?"

"Uh, behind the nature center," Hideyo replied, "He's cleared some of the grass back there for a garden."

"Thank you!" called Shiori as she went to the door.

"What are you planning to do?" asked Isao, a small smile on his face.

Shiori turned back to her friends. "Some calm but enthusiastic friending!" Then she left the art center. As soon as she rounded the corner of the art center she saw one corner of the makeshift garden. When she got closer she saw that it was mostly full of the living plant samples from the nature center, having been transferred out of their pots.

However, the far end of the garden was just bare dirt, and it was at that end that Shiori found Kenji. He carefully watered the ground, a serene look on his face. Unwilling to disrupt the gentle scene too abruptly, she slowly walked around the plot to catch his eye.

Finally Kenji spotted her, taking a startled step back. "What? What are you doing here?"

Shiori raised her hands in a calming gesture. "Hideyo told me you'd started a garden, so I wanted to see it. Do you mind if I look around?"

Kenji relaxed, but only a fraction. Returning to his watering he said, "Sure...just, don't step on anything."

* * *

 _Carefully Shiori examined the garden, navigating mostly around its edge as Kenji continued to water the plants._

SHIORI: Wow, you did I nice job of setting this up. All the flowers in one section, then the vegetables and herbs in another. It's so organized!

KENJI: ...Well, that's...just sort of standard...Oh!

SHIORI: What is it?

KENJI: Look, a butterfly found the lavender.

 _He slowly moved his gloved hand closer to the butterfly. The two watched as the butterfly crawled onto his hand._

SHIORI: Woah…

KENJI: This is a good sign. I hope it likes the other flowers; there isn't much variety, but I haven't seen many wild flowers on the island.

SHIORI: _He's so gentle with it...like this, he seems so different from when he told me to leave him alone before..._

[Butterflies are the only bugs I can stand.]

[You're really just a softie aren't you?]

 _[What'll happen when more bugs come?]_

SHIORI: I know butterflies are good for flowers, but what about other bugs? I wouldn't want some weird beetles to eat everything.

KENJI: If they do, then they do. It's a natural part of things. Sure, if there were an outbreak of something I'd wanna tend to it, but if some leaves get chewed up then that's just part of the cycle of things.

SHIORI: Huh, I hadn't thought of it like that. Guess I'm too used to thinking of gardeners as militant old ladies who shake their rakes at you for stepping on their hydrangeas.

KENJI: ...Unfortunately there are far too many gardeners who are exactly like that. I ran into them all the time when I did garden competitions—

SHIORI: You do competitions? That's awesome! I bet you've won awesome prizes and—

KENJI: I don't...do competitions...anymore.

 _Kenji placed the butterfly back on the lavender and picked up his watering can, ignoring Shiori as he continued his work._

SHIORI: _And now he's withdrawn again...for a second there he was so alive! Still, I'd call that progress!_

* * *

After an awkward silence, Shiori finally saw all of the plants in the garden, and Kenji finished his watering. Placing down his watering can, Kenji gave her a strange, tense look. Shiori coughed. "Uh...The talent show is gonna be at 8:00 tomorrow, if you wanna come. So...bye!" Quickly she turned and walked away back towards the mess hall to grab dinner.

Once Shiori was out of sight of Kenji, she pumped her hands in the air. "Yes! Successful one on one interaction where he didn't tell me to go away...Wow that sounds less impressive now that I'm saying out loud." Still, she smiled at her triumph. _We can do this! Even less social people can start becoming friends, and friendship will defeat Monokuma!_

A moment after she had that thought, Shiori groaned. "Oh my god, did I actually just invoke the power of friendship trope in my head? Geez that sounded so cheesy even just thinking it…" She shook her head.

Once she reached the mess hall Shiori snatched one of the premade bentos and walked back out, as no one was there to talk to. Honestly, that suited her; she wanted to spend some time reading over her story to make sure she hadn't made any major errors, and to practice reading it out loud.

Making her way back towards the cabins, she found a comfortable spot to lean up against a tree, opened the bento, and began reading over her story. She felt quiet proud of it; it was a simple story of a lady knight who trying to save a prince trapped in a dungeon, but who kept having to deal with a mischievous spirit along the way. In the end, it turns out the spirit was sent by the prince to test the knight, and the three decide to continue adventuring together. However, as she was reading it, something about the characters seemed...familiar. "Wait!" Shiori said, dropping the now mostly finished bento, "These guys are just the main trio from _Heaven's Summer Love_!"

 _Heaven's Summer Love_ was a manga she read back in middle school. It was about a girl who made a wish for a summer romance and two very hot god boys decided to grant her wish; she honestly hadn't thought about it in a few years, but it was the first thing she ever wrote fanfiction for.

Shiori covered her now beet red face and softly shrieked into her hands. "Why am I such a geek…? I wasn't even trying to...Gah!" After a few more minutes of stewing in embarrassment, she finally calmed down enough to actually think.

 _Well..._ she thought as she looked over the story again, _They aren't exactly the same, especially in this new context...and it's not super likely that anyone else will notice. Maybe it'll be fine. Yeah! It's fine! They're just...inspired by those characters! Inspiration is fine, and totally not fanfiction!_

Shiori quickly found the biggest problem her realization caused was that now she could barely read the story out loud without laughing. It ended up taking until nightfall, but eventually she could get from beginning to end with no giggling.

Finally satisfied with her reading, she picked up the empty bento box and stood up. However, before she could go back to her cabin, she heard a muffled sound that seemed to come from behind the boys shower building. Shiori bit her lip, but undaunted she crept slowly towards the noise. Only as she rounded the corner did she realize the noise was crying, and by then it was too late; she now stood in front of a teary eyed Haruto, clutching some sort of book to his chest.

Immediately Haruto jumped up. "What are you doing here!? Get lost, you...peasant!"

Shiori quickly took a step back. "I just heard—"

"You heard nothing!" he interrupted, "And I don't want your weird pity friendship! I know you think I'm incompetent; you all do!"

She shook her head. "No, Haruto please—"

"Save it! I don't need the approval for you talentless lot anyway. I know I'm ready to an Ultimate; I've won competitions, I was supposed to get into a school for the gifted!" Haruto tightened his grip on his book, slightly bending the paper cover. "The entrance exam was just rigged...it had to be! I know my talent is enough! I'm getting out of here, and I'm proving I'm the one here who deserves to be called an Ultimate. Not you, not anyone else! Me!" With that declaration he stormed past her, anger still radiating off of him in waves.

For a few minutes, Shiori could not move, the shock of Haruto's outburst freezing her to one spot. Once she could finally move, (and breath), again, she quickly returned to her cabin. Karen was already in bed, although she didn't seem to be asleep. Homura sat up in her bed fiddling with was looked like a slingshot. She looked up when Shiori entered the cabin. "You okay?"

"Yeah, uh…" Shiori didn't know how to breach this topic, so she just said, "It's just been a long day." Hoping Homura would catch the hint that she wanted some quiet, she began changing into her night clothes.

Unfortunately Homura did not. "Man, if today seemed long, I bet tomorrow's gonna take forever! I mean like, I'm already so pumped for the talent show thing. I've got it all planned out, and I even made a target I'm gonna use and—"

Shiori was about to stop Homura, but Karen beat her to it. "Will you please keep it down?" She emphasized her statement with a kick to one of the bunk bed posts. "I want to get some...raptimonious sleep."

"You mean rapturous…?" Shiori mumbled as she finally got under the covers.

"...Yes, that…" came Karen's soft reply, but Shiori was already asleep.

* * *

Shiori woke up to someone shaking her awake. When she opened her eyes, she saw Homura, already dressed and bouncing with excitement. "Good morning! Today's the day! The talent show! I mean, unless we get found before the show starts, but like, at this point we might be able to convince the rescue people to let us use the stage here, just for a bit? 'Cause I mean, they'll have take out Monokuma and stuff but then it'll be safe here. Hey wait, rescue people have guns, right? Oh gosh, maybe one of them will let me borrow theirs and I can do an actual demonstration instead of the dinky slingshot one I have planned and—"

Kokoa's foot came down from the bunk above Shiori and hit Homura over the head. "Be quiet. I'm used to getting up at the crack of dawn but I need it to be quiet!"

Homura rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Gosh! I'm like, super sorry. I'll just head out then." She disappeared from Shiori's view.

Still, once Shiori was up, she could never get back to sleep, so she slowly got up from bed. She ended up having to dance around Kokoa as they both ready for the day. It seemed clear to Shiori that Kokoa had a set morning routine already and was not used to having another person up at the same time, as they bumped into each other multiple times. In the end they both ended up clean and walking out of their cabin right as the morning announcement played.

"Ugh," Kokoa sighed, "I'm late. Of course..."

"Oh, uh, you like trying to get into the kitchen right when the mess hall opens, right?" said Shiori, "Sorry if uh, that was my fault."

Kokoa paused for a second, then said, "You'll just have to make it up to me later." She walked away towards the mess hall through the slightly cool morning air.

For a while, Shiori stood around awkwardly waiting for Hideyo and Isao, but then something occurred to her. _I'm up earlier than usual, so I can actually be the one to get them from their cabins, instead of the other way around!_ With that in mind, she went over to the other girl's cabin first.

She gave the door three quick knocks, and was quickly met by Hideyo, still in her pajamas. "Oh, hey Shiori!" she said, "I got a bit of a late start today, do you mind waiting? It's a little—"

From behind Hideyo, Shiori could see Akiko holding up Rika's stuffed bear high over her head, with Rika jumping up uselessly to reach it and Kashie watching the scene in horror. "Ah, come on Bunny!" Akiko said to Rika, "Get your little friend! Don't hold back!"

Rika suddenly smiled. "Okay!" In a flash Rika jumped onto Akiko and climbed up onto her shoulders even as Akiko thrashed back and forth.

"Jesus Christ, I shoulda called you Monkey!" Akiko said, trying to pull the smaller girl off. But Rika's grip with her legs under Akiko's armpits was strong.

Kashie wrung her hands. "Oh, oh gosh— can, can you please, please be— be more careful?!"

Just then Rika grabbed the bear. "Got it!" With that she leaned backwards over Akiko's back, placed her free hand on the ground, and swung her legs off to land in a crouch behind Akiko. Then she jumped back up, hugging her bear as she declared, "I win!"

Akiko stared at her. "What...the actual fuck are you?"

"I'm a gladiator!" Rika replied.

Akiko just shook her head. Finally, she noticed Shiori in the doorway. "Oh hey Bubbly! Just the person I wanted to see. We need to talk." Before anyone else could say a word, she and Shiori were out the door and around the corner of the cabin.

Shiori blinked, but quickly readjusted. "So, uh, Akiko…"

Akiko turned to her, her face serious. "Since we're still here, obviously I didn't find a way out yet." Then she smiled brightly. "So that's means I'm in the talent show! Yeah baby!"

Shiori perked up. "Oh gosh, right! Oh that's awesome! We uh, planned out the order yesterday, but we left a spot for you; you'll be the finale!"

"Good choice," Akiko said, flipping her ponytail, "I'll give us a proper show stopper!"

Suddenly a thought occurred to Shiori and she stopped bouncing up and down in excitement. "Wait, do you have drums to play? I mean, I haven't seen any around."

Akiko shrugged. "All I really need is some kinda big bucket thing. 'Long as it's plastic and the sides aren't too thick I can make it work."

"Maybe there's something like that in the art center?" Shiori pondered, "I mean, it also has tons of craft stuff too, so you could use those in a pinch?" _Hopefully Hideyo's stuff is out of the way so we don't mess it up._

Akiko's face lit up again. "Perfect! Let's go."

"Ah, wait!" But Akiko had already grabbed her arm and was dragging her to the art center.

* * *

 _Before she knew it, Shiori stood in the art center's supply room with Akiko, who immediately snatched up a large empty plastic paint bucket._

AKIKO: Yeah, buddy! This'll be just fine. Now we just need some drum sticks…

SHIORI: Uh, would these wooden dowel rods work?

AKIKO: Hmm, a little flimsy, but they'll do! Man though...look at all this crap. I bet we could plan some epic pranks with this stuff.

SHIORI: Oh! You like pranks?

AKIKO: Bubbly, pranks are basically the shit. You get to make someone look dumb, or scare them, but it's still chill, 'cause no one gets hurt.

SHIORI: Oh good. I'm not so into dangerous pranks.

AKIKO: Eh, once it gets dangerous it's not really a prank, per say...Have you ever done pranks?

SHIORI: Uh…

[Nope! I can never think of one.]

 _[I helped with a club prank once.]_

[Does a surprise birthday party count?]

SHIORI: Once I helped my literary magazine play a prank on our advisor; one day we suddenly started quoting the opening scene from Romeo and Juliet and played the whole thing out with cardboard swords and everything. We even color coordinated our outfits for which side we were on. He thought it was hilarious!

AKIKO: Heh, that ain't too bad I guess, but that's one hundred percent just the kind of stuff you do to people you like. Hard core pranks are for people you wanna piss off, but can't actively beat up.

SHIORI: Oh, sorta like trolling online, but in real life?

AKIKO: Yeah, you get it! For example, say we took some of this here spray paint, and graffitied something to piss off Monokuma. Like him singing kumbaya and holding our hands or something.

SHIORI: Haha, yeah that would definitely make him mad. But would that count are damaging camp property?

AKIKO: Ah see, another important part of pranks is finding loopholes; it's not damaging, it's creating public art!

SHIORI: _I'm not sure if he would accept that excuse, but at least it's not directly breaking a rule like she was trying to do before._

* * *

Suddenly, Shiori realized she'd left Hideyo back at the cabin without saying anything. Taking a step back, she changed the subject. "Well Akiko, I'm glad we could find you something to use as a drum! And uh, the show is gonna be at 8:00 tonight, so try and get to the mess hall at around 7:00 for set up and all that."

Akiko gave a quick thumbs up. "No problem! Say, I'm hungry, so why don't we grab some breakfast?"

"I was actually just about to suggest that," said Shiori. She smiled as the two of them walked over to the dining hall. _I'm glad to see that she's less angry right now. I guess the chance to show off her talent is cheering her up._

When they entered the dining hall, Shiori saw that almost all of the students had gathered that morning; the only people absent were Haruto and Gorou. Even Kashie was sitting awkwardly at a table with Remy and Kenji. _I guess it's the table for quiet people who'd rather not talk over food,_ she thought. Hideyo and Isao sat at their usual table, but Rika and Karen joined them. The only people who were alone were Ikeda, who leaned against the wall near the kitchen door eating an apple, and Mr. Saiki, who wandered between the tables pouring cups of hot chocolate.

"Who's pumped for our show tonight!?" shouted Akiko as they entered, "'Cause guess what? I'm gonna be your grand finale, so I better see all of you there!" Rika and Homura gave a quick cheer, and Take gave a small smirk. Ikeda remained expressionless, but he bit into his apple as he watched the group carefully.

Akiko went over to the kitchen, while Shiori went over to Hideyo. "Hey Hideyo! Can I talk to you real quick? It'll only take a minute."

Hideyo got up from her chair. "Sure, Shiori!" Once the two girls were around the corner of the stage, away from everyone, she asked, "So what is it? I hope it's not serious."

"It kind of is?" Shiori quickly relayed her run in with Haruto the night before. It felt good to finally tell someone. The whole incident had left her shaken, but now that she'd given it some time, she felt like she wanted to deal with this.

Hideyo listened attentively. "That sounds awful! You should really tell Mr. Saiki about that; it sounds like Haruto needs some serious help."

"Yeah, I know, and I'm going to. I just...it's different talking about something like this to a teacher, or...whatever Mr. Saiki is. Hideyo I…" Shiori gulped. "...I was so scared. I've never had someone yell at me like that before. Before, even with Gorou or Akiko's outbursts, it was never just directed at me. I felt like he might…" She shook her head. _No, he wouldn't. Even if he was really mad last night, it no one would go that far…_ She continued, "I just wanted a chance to gather my thoughts, before I have to tell Mr. Saiki. And I guess to warn you, sort of? Just, I don't know where Haruto goes all day but if you run into him just be careful, I guess?"

Hideyo nodded. "I got it. And...thanks for coming to me with this. It's nice to know...you think of me as someone you can talk to."

"Of course!" Shiori said, "Honestly, you're my closest friend here."

Hideyo slowly smirked. "Oh, and what about Isao, hmm?" She elbowed Shiori playfully. "If I'm your closest friend, than what is he?"

Shiori immediately began to blush. "Oh my god, he's just a friend. I feel close to him too, but it'd be...weird, to talk to him about this…"

"And it's not weird to spend hours hanging out with him watching him practice dancing?" Hideyo giggled. "Tee hee hee! Don't worry, I get you, and your secret's safe with me!"

Shiori's mind went blank. "Ah, wait, no, Hideyo—"

"Come one!" Hideyo linked her arm in Shiori's. "Let's get back to breakfast."

* * *

The rest of the day past in a blur; first breakfast, then helping Hideyo lay out the backdrop on the grass to check for missed spots and add more detail, then helping Isao work the timing of his routine without music, then lunch, then going over her story out loud again and again until she could say it in her sleep, and then finally crashing in her cabin for a nap.

When Shiori woke up from her nap she checked her Monopad for the time: 6:30. _Might as well head over to the mess hall now. Get food and start setting up all at once._

As she walked over she heard Mr. Saiki over the intercom. "Hey everybody! Just as a reminder, the talent show will be tonight at 8:00. Please come to support your friends as they share their talents with us!"

Quickly Shiori got back to the mess hall and entered. Immediately she was met with a surprising sight. Kokoa stood over a long half set up folding table, struggling to pull the other leg out.

Shiori walked over. "Oh! Want some help?"

Kokoa glanced up at her, then shrugged. "Sure. It's stubborn as heck though."

With a few more heaves and kicks to the stubborn joins in the metal, the two finally got the second set of legs unfolded. As they moved to each end of the table to set it on it's legs, Shiori asked, "What's this for? We have plenty of normal tables."

"But for the show you're gonna put them all away, right?" Once the table was steady, Kokoa wiped her hands on her apron. "Besides, I need the room to set up everything correctly."

Shiori perked up. "Oh! Are you gonna have chocolates out for the show?"

"Figured I might as well. People always eat refreshments. I can finally get some feedback on my new recipe." Kokoa turned to go back into the kitchen, then paused. "You can help me bring out the trays. Then we'll be even for making me late this morning."

Blushing, Shiori said, "Right. I'm still sorry about that!"

Kokoa shrugged again and went into the kitchen. Shiori followed as Kokoa went past the main refrigerator over to the larger freezer in the back of the kitchen and opened it. Inside Shiori saw shelves and shelves of frozen foods. _Enough for months..._ she realized with a shiver. Or perhaps that was just the cold. Kokoa stopped and reached up to a cookie sheet set on top of various canned goods and brought it carefully. "Get the other one next to it, okay?" she said over her shoulder as she navigated back out of the freezer.

Unfortunately, because Shiori was quite a bit shorter than Kokoa, what was a slight reach for the chocolatier she could only just touch with her finger tips. She went for the sides of the tray, carefully inching it forward, but when she tried to actually lift it down she found it heavier than she expected. For a split second it seemed that the tray would come crashing down, but then she felt the weight of the tray suddenly lessen.

Shiori looked up and saw Mr. Saiki holding the edge of the tray. "Careful there! How about I get this one?" He carefully got a second grip on the tray and brought it down.

"Oh gosh, thanks! Honestly, I think if I'd have dropped her chocolates Kokoa would have kill—" The word died in her throat when she realized the possible implications of what she was about to say. For a few more awkward seconds she just stood there, then she swiftly dunked around Mr. Saiki and left the freezer.

Back in the mess hall she saw that Remy had arrived and was calmly holding the other tray while Kokoa placed her chocolate creations neatly on a serving platter. He gave Shiori a slight nod as she entered.

"Here's the rest!" said Mr. Saiki as he came up behind her. Shiori shuffled her feet, embarrassed that she's been unable to complete her task, but Mr. Saiki didn't seem to notice. "Where should I put these, Kokoa?"

"On the end of the table is fine," Kokoa replied.

Determined to actually start helping, Shiori began moving the circle tables towards the walls so they'd be out of the way of where the chairs for the audience would go. Thankfully the tables were not heavy, so she could drag them fairly easily, but they did make a screeching noise as she moved them aside. After a while, Remy wandered over, having finished his previous duty, and helped her move the tables a side by lifting instead of dragging.

At first Shiori didn't really know what to say to Remy; he was never the sort to initiate casual conversation, and besides photography and animals Shiori couldn't think of any topics beyond the immediate situation. In the end she asked, "Did you find a place to print out photos?"

"Yep," said Remy, then after a pause he added, "There was an old printer in one of the cabinets in the health center. It had been unplugged and put away... but it still has ink."

"Oh man, that's awesome!" said Shiori, "It'll be nice to have momentos of the show."

There was another long silence before Remy said. "Isn't it weird...that the health center has a printer, and a desk... but no computer? Printing from a computer...would have been a lot easier…"

"That...actually is pretty weird, now that you mention it." Shiori pondered that as they continued to clear the tables. Unfortunately the only conclusion she could come to was that Monokuma simply didn't want anyone on the island to have access to a computer, but was okay with printing. _Which is weird, because it's not like we could have used the computer to escape without internet, right? Whatever._

"...how are we setting up the chairs?" Remy suddenly asked. Shiori realized they had finally gotten all of the tables moved.

Mr. Saiki answered, "Some of us been putting them in rows over here while you two were working!"

Shiori saw that Rika, Take, Seihiko, and Homura had arrived and were handling the chairs. Meanwhile, Hideyo and Mr. Saiki were up on the stage tying the backdrop to a long pole that had been lowered down from the cycling over the stage. Kashie stood in the center of the stage, flipping through some cue cards in her hands. Akiko was leaning on the table with the chocolates, munching on one while Kokoa watch her warily but attentively.

Shiori went over to Kokoa and asked, "How did the chocolates turn out?"

"Have one for yourself if you're curious," Kokoa said in reply. Akiko looked to Shiori and seemed to give a small shake of her head. Shiori paused, but took a chocolate anyway.

"Oh!" Shiori said in surprise as she tasted the chocolate, "The filling kind of tastes like lemon? I've never had chocolate and lemon…" _And I'm not sure if I ever want to again! It kind of works, but geez it's so bitter._

Kokoa smiled ever so slightly and nodded at this response. Shiori quickly moved on and climbed up the stairs to the stage. "Need help with the backdrop?" she asked.

"Nope!" said Hideyo immediately, her voice a bit tense. _Maybe she's nervous about the show._ "We got it, thanks! Isao's checking out the light board though, if you wanna help with that." The tone of Hideyo's voice seemed to scream 'Go talk to him!'

Shiori blushed, but went over. Isao turned to meet her. "I'm just trying to figure out which of these will give us full lights. I've worked back stage once or twice, and usually there's a preset for full lights, but I don't see any labels on here..."

"Hmm…" Poking around the light board she found a handwritten sheet taped to the wall, hidden slightly behind the curtain. "Here we go! It says that full stage is...this one!" She pressed the appropriate button and the stage became full of bright yellow light.

"Great job! I never would have spotted that." Isao smiled and held up his hand for a high five. Shiori returned it, grinning back.

A sudden whooshing noise drew both of their attention, and they turned to see Mr. Saiki at one side of the stage pulling on a rope which caused the pole with the backdrop tied to it to rise slowly, revealing the full extend of Hideyo's work. Shiori immediately clapped and gave a cheer.

"Alright, I think we're almost ready to start!" said Mr. Saiki, "Everyone go ahead and grab something quick to eat, we'll go over the order again, and then we'll be ready to start."

Everyone obliged him, snatching sandwiches or bentos from the kitchen, as well as sampling Kokoa's chocolates. While a few people made slight faces at the bitterness of the candy, only Rika said anything out loud. "These are really bitter!" she declared, sticking her tongue out.

Kokoa balked. "Are you really just gonna say that out loud?"

Rika looked puzzled. "But they are! I don't wanna lie. Oh! Just because they're bitter and I don't like bitter things that doesn't mean they're bad! I didn't mean to be uh...mean about it."

"It's fine," Kokoa huffed, flipping a bit of her hair over her shoulder, "Everyone's had them and I've at least gotten _some_ feedback _,_ so I guess I'll be going. Have fun with your show." She stalked out of the mess hall, pushing past Kenji, who had just arrived, as she exited.

"Uh…" Kenji looked around the room at everyone as they stared at him, then quickly sat down in one of the seats in the back row.

Mr. Saiki waited a moment, then said, "Anyway! In case you don't know, the way back stage is around that way. " He pointed to the left side of room where a small hallway bordered the left side of the stage. "Remember the order of the show is Rika, Seihiko, Homura, Isao, Shiori, Take, Akiko, got it? How about Hideyo, Kashie, and the first two acts head backstage, and we get started?"

"Wait, what if the others are coming?" Shiori asked. _Karen, Ikeda, Gorou, and Haruto...and Kokoa might come back! Maybe…_

"Nah," said Akiko, "If they wanna come they can just sneak in and sit in the back. It's not like this a freaking opera or some shit."

Shiori frowned, but conceded. "I guess so…"

Everyone made their way backstage or to the seats. "I'll get the lights," said Remy, flicking off the main lights before returning to a seat he had set for himself right at the back, to take pictures from.

With that done, it was finally time for the talent show to begin. Shiori bounced in her seat, unable to contain her excitement. _It's actually happening! And people are getting along, mostly, and gosh I can't believe we made this happen!_

Slowly the curtain opened and Kashie stood in the center of the stage. With one last glance at her cue cards, she cleared her throat and said, "Good evening everyone! Welcome to the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students Talent Show!" Shiori almost gasped; Kashie sounded for more confident than usual, louder and with far less stammering. Her voice wavered occasionally, but overall she seemed prepared. "Tonight you will see a showcase of a wide variety of skills and talents! First, we have Rika Ohara, who will be demonstrating her...gladiator skills for us!" Kashie swiftly left the stage as Rika entered.

Rika waved. "Hello everyone! I'm the Pink Punisher, Atomic Rika!" She struck a dramatic pose. "Today I shall show you some of my favorite martial arts sets, since I can do those alone." She bowed, then began. Once again Shiori was struck by Rika's sheer skill and athleticism. Each jump, kick, roll, and punch moved seamlessly from one to the next, and by the end Rika seemed only barely out of breath. "Thank you!" she declared, and left the stage.

After a quick introduction from Kashie, Seihiko went next. He apologized for the lack of music, but went on to perform tricks with his yo-yo that Shiori hadn't even known were possible. She gave a big cheer as he exited, but saw from the corner of her eye that Take had a strangely stoney look on his face.

She was soon distracted by Homura entering the stage. Homura was attempting to drag what looked like one of the easels from the art center onto the stage, but she struggled with the weight. Kashie dashed out from backstage to help, but as the two fumbled with straightening out the three sides they dropped the easel with a loud thunk. "Ouch!" yelped Homura, quickly grabbing her foot. Kashie sputtered apologies as she finally set up the easel. "It's no big deal," Homura reassured her, then turned to the audience, "A squished toe is nothing compared to this!" She brandished her cast. "And a broken arm couldn't even stop me!"

Shiori giggled slightly, and watched as Homura set up a crudely drawn target made from a small canvas on the easel, then wiped out her slingshot and some pebbles. "Normally I'd have used a BB gun for this, but I make do! If you brute force it enough, you can get through it! Now let's get started!" Homura then proceeded to do various sorts of trick shots, first creating a circle around the bull's eye, then shooting from different parts of the stage and between her legs. For her finale, she shot over her shoulder backwards. It wasn't exactly a bull's eye, but Shiori still gave a standing ovation.

 _Isao's next, and then me,_ she thought as she made her way backstage. As she entered the backstage area she was immediately captivated by Isao as he began his dance. Even without music, his movements were so graceful but also so full of emotion that Shiori felt herself choke up. He seemed so at ease on stage, not at all nervous or defensive or anything. _This is where be belongs...if anyone here should be an Ultimate, it's him…_

Suddenly she realized he had finished and Kashie was introducing her. Isao walked back her and whispered, "Break a leg! You'll be great!" She gulped, but walked out onto the stage with confidence.

"Hello! So, uh, I will be reading a story I wrote called 'The Knight and the Sly Spirit.'" She held up her Monopad so she could glance down at it to keep her place, and began. The whole story only took about ten minutes to read, but it felt like less as she felt herself get lost in what she's written, giving each character a voice and emoting as much as she could. When she finished she heard a few cheers amongst the applause. Beaming, she exited.

Once she was off stage Shiori gave a little jump of joy. She looked to Kashie and mouthed, 'they liked it!' Kashie gave small nod, then went on stage to announce the next act. She gave Take a thumbs up as he went on with Seihiko and Homura behind him.

As Shiori walked back around to the audience to take her seat, she saw that Ikeda had snuck into the show at some point, as he sat in one of the back rows of seats. In her pleasure at seeing him she almost shouted, but thankfully she remebered where she was and got back to her seat without disturbing Take's performance.

Because of her distraction she ended missing the beginning of Take's pick-pocketing demonstration, but she saw the final moments. "Now, all of this sleight of hand stuff is important," Take said, waving the bag of pebbles he must have swiped off Homura for emphasis, "But there is one more technique you've gotta know. So, you two stand together, and I'm gonna take Homura's slingshot."

Homura and Seihiko stood together, pretending to have a conversation, when Take tossed one of the pebbles past them, making a noise. When Homura turned to the noise, he slipped behind them and snatched the slingshot. "Distraction! It's the key to properly pickpocketing! But usually, just one distraction isn't enough so—" He suddenly held up his other hand, in which he held Seihiko's belt. "—try a few together!" Seihiko's face instantly went bright red and he grabbed the edge of his pants before they could fall. Thankfully his pants weren't very loose, but Shiori felt like Seihiko looked extremely uncomfortable. _I feel like that bit wasn't in what they rehearsed…_

Before she could think on it more, however, the trio had left the stage to be replaced by Akiko. She'd brought out her drum and a small stool. "Alright, it's time for the grand fucking finale! Who's ready to jam!?" Akiko shouted.

Shiori gave a small 'whoo!' and Rika shouted, "I don't like jam, but okay!"

Akiko grinned slyly, twirled her makeshift drumsticks, and began. It started somewhat slow and straight forward, but gradually the rhythmic patterns became more complex and the tempo increased. Akiko's whole body rocked and swayed with her drumming, her face intense but ecstatic. She stood as she reached the climax, giving the drum one final hit and then raising her arms over her head triumphantly.

Everyone stood and cheered. Even Kenji, Remy, and Ikeda in the back stood up. Akiko gave a long, overdramatic bow, and left the stage.

Quickly Kashie came back out. "What a wonderfully finale! That concludes our talent show. Thank you all so much for coming, and have a great evening!" She waited for a few seconds for the curtain to close, but nothing happened. _Uh-oh,_ Shiori thought, _Is Hideyo having problems with the curtains?_ Kashie glanced anxiously off stage, and then suddenly the curtains began closing very quickly. Kashie jumped back slightly as they closed.

Shiori was about to head backstage to see what had happened, but Mr. Saiki began talking. "Okay everyone! That was amazing! Really, I am so proud of all of you. Since it's almost 9:00, I'd like us to really quickly put the chairs and tables back so we can be out of here before nighttime. Alright? Let's get to it!"

With everyone still pumped up from the show, putting everything back didn't end up taking too long. As they worked, Shiori made sure to congratulate everyone who performed. Unfortunately she didn't get to talk to Hideyo, who worked quietly and once she had finished putting a few of the tables away she excused herself, saying she felt a bit sick. Honestly, Shiori agreed; she looked pale and sweaty, even her kimono being slightly damp with it. _I bet that's why she got distracted with the curtain at the end. Geez, I hope it's nothing too serious. I know we have some medicine here, but if it's really bad…_ She shook her head. _Maybe the next group thing we should do is actually formally explore the wooded areas as a group. Maybe we'll find something that can help us escape._

About five minutes before nighttime they finished. As the others headed back towards the cabins, Shiori hung back. Isao stopped when he saw she wasn't moving. "What is it, Shiori?" he asked.

"Oh, I wanted to talk to Mr. Saiki about something real quick. It's no big deal; go on ahead."

"Alright," he said slowly, "Just be careful walking back, okay?"

She giggled. "I will, don't worry. I can handle walking in the dark."

As Isao left Shiori walked over to Mr. Saiki's office and knocked. "Come on in!" came Mr. Saiki's voice from inside, "I'll be with you in a second." True to his word, he entered the office from the other door only a few moments after she entered.

"This'll be really quick, Mr. Saiki," Shiori said, "Not a full talk or anything."

"Alright," Mr. Saiki replied, standing by his desk rather than sitting, "What is it?"

Shiori but her lip, then said, "Last night I had a run in with Haruto. He was really upset, and I think he might need some help. I don't know how receptive he'll be, but he definitely needs someone to talk to...I don't think he's managed to make any friends here, so I'm kind of worried."

Mr. Saiki nodded. "I've noticed, but thanks for telling me. Honestly, I've been thinking of ways to try to help him, as well as Ikeda and Gorou, who I've also mostly seen alone. I'll try to have something ready tomorrow."

"Okay," Shiori said, "Sorry I didn't bring it up sooner, but with the talent show and everything…"

"Don't worry; solving personal problems is my job, not yours. Now go along, it's getting kind of late."

Shiori raised her eyebrows at him. "This is normally when I go to bed, even at home. With homework and free time, this is almost early!"

Mr Saiki laughed and pointed out his door. "Well I need to get ready for bed too, so get!"

* * *

The next morning Shiori woke up with the morning announcement and got ready without too much fanfare, but she felt better than she had the last two days. The success of the talent show last night left her glowing with pride, and she practically buzzed with it as she met Hideyo and Isao.

"Morning!" Shiori said.

"Morning," Hideyo yawned. She looked much better than last night, though a bit tired.

"Glad you seem to be feeling better, Hideyo," Isao commented as they began to walk to the mess hall.

Suddenly, before Hideyo could reply, shrieking static erupted over the intercoms. Out of the static came the voice of Monokuma, and Shiori went cold. "Everyone! Please report to the flag circle immediately! Upupupu!"

The three only took a second to glance at each other before they took off running. _Oh god, what now? Another motive? He is gonna punish us for having the talent show?_ Shiori kept running even as her lungs began to burn, and in only a few minutes she arrived at the flag circle. The sight she saw in front of her left her mind reeling, her perception of what was and wasn't possible completely shattered forever.

* * *

 _Kokoa and Ikeda stood to one side supporting Mr. Saiki, who looked like he was about to faint. All three stared up at the flagpole._

 _A dark, horrible shape swung dully back and forth at the top of the pole. What skin was visible looked modeled with purple and blue, and the limbs hung limply; one arm looked broken, the break jutting out at an odd angle. Dark red blood covered the face and matted the red hair, dripping down and creating a pool on the ground. Even with the face beaten and covered in blood, he was still recognizable._

 _Haruto Hanko, the Penultimate Puzzle Master, hung at the top of the flagpole, clearly and irrefutably dead._

* * *

 _Oh no! Our first victim, may he rest in peace. Soon it will be time for the investigation! Honestly the investigation might take a bit longer than this chapter, since I'll need to fully work out all the truth bullets and what order to find them in, but rest assured I have the case all planned out; it's just a matter of revealing it to you all in the best way. I hope you enjoyed the freetimes and the talent show. Now you get to speculate about the murder, which is always fun, even if it comes at the expense of our dear puzzle boy. Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!_


	8. Chapter 1 (part 4)

While Reijirou managed to keep himself conscious faced with the corpse of one of the students, _his_ students, he could not control his stomach. Breaking out of the grip of Kokoa and Ikeda, he ran to the nearest patch of grass and vomited. For a few minutes he simply breathed, brain pulling him back and forth between facing the other students and having a full on guilt ridden break down. Because there is a part of him screaming _I let this happen; if I'd been more proactive, if I'd sought Haruto out sooner, if I'd insisted on more safety measures, if—_

His internal struggle is broken by a high, desperate scream. Reijirou turns to see that the rest of students had arrived, but more importantly, Rika was on the ground, scrambling backwards away from the flagpole. He rushed over, kneeling by her side but not touching her yet.

"No, no, no," she mumbled over and over even as she was hyperventilating, "No, I didn't, I don't, I'm, I'm sorry I—"

"Rika, you need to breathe," Reijirou said in his softest, most calming voice.

Rika shook her head. "I, I can't, I—" Suddenly her eyes rolled back into her head. Reijirou quickly caught her as she fainted. He carefully lowered her to the ground, then got back up to assess the rest of the students.

Everyone was in various flavors of shock, horror, or both. Shiori seemed dazed, frozen in place. Kokoa looked ready to faint herself, but Ikeda held her up. Ikeda himself meanwhile simply looked on, his mouth a hard, tense line. Hideyo played anxiously with the edges of her sleeves and bit her lip. Isao blinked rapidly, glancing from the corpse to the other students and back, eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. Gorou simply stood frozen, his fists clenched at his sides. Kashie leaned heavily against the wall of the health center, wiping her mouth as if she'd also just vomited. Take stood wide eyed, while next to him Homura tried to comfort a shaking Seihiko even as tears trailed down her cheeks. Remy gripped his camera so hard it might break, and beside him Kenji cried and sniffled. Karen crossed her arms protectively over her chest. Akiko's mouth had settled into an angry frown, but she held herself strong.

"Upupupu!" rang the voice of Monokuma over the intercom, breaking the eerie silence, "That's right everyone! The Killing Game has officially begun! Sorry I just ordered you all here without warning; from now on, we'll have a proper Body Discovery Announcements once three people find a body. But for this first time, I couldn't _bear_ to ruin the surprise!"

"Wait, so...he's really dead?" Isao said, clearly still processing the situation.

"Of course he's dead!" cried Gorou, "What, do you think someone could survive that!?" He gestured up to Haruto's corpse.

"I, I don't know!" Isao countered, "I'm just…"

"This is horrible," Shiori whispered, "It's...I just can't believe…" She straightened up. "How do we know you didn't do this, Monokuma!?"

"Shiori, Monokuma has a gun in his hand," Ikeda pointed out, his voice flat, "And it's clear to me that Haruto was beaten to death."

"Well, you're certainly right! I didn't lay a finger on him or any of you! However! Don't get ahead of yourself there bub!" Monokuma shouted again, "Save that sort of stuff for the investigation!"

"Investigation…?" Kashie asked.

"We're supposed to investigate the murder?" Isao added, still dumbfounded.

"Well, duh!" The contempt in Monokuma's voice was palpable. "Remember how I said this was a civilized Killing Game? Before the blackened can escape, we have to hold a Class Trial! And before you can do _that,_ you have to investigate! Find clues as to which of your dear fellow campers committed the crime!"

"How do you expect us to do that?" Homura said, trying to wipe away her tears, "We aren't detectives, and we don't have all that fancy stuff the police has for finding fingerprints or DNA or whatever!"

Monokuma laughed again. "That doesn't matter! Just do your best to gather the clues, and then all the campers will debate who the blackened is at the Class Trial! I even have an app in your Monopad that will record clues for you! It's the one called 'Truth Bullets!'" Several of the students pulled out their Monopads, and Reijirou also check his own. He found the app, but he also saw a message across the top of the screen that read 'Received Monokuma File #1!'

"What's this file thing, huh?" Akiko demanded.

"That would be the Monokuma File! It will have vital information about the murder that you chumps wouldn't be able to find otherwise! Things like time and cause of death, that sort of stuff! Although, please note that the Monokuma File will never give away information that would make the case too easy! It's only there to give info that is absolutely necessary for a fair trial!"

Reijirou straightened up. "Alright, so how long do we have to investigate before we have to trial? And how exactly will we decide the culprit?"

"Ah ah ah! That should be, 'how exactly will _they_ decide the culprit!'" Reijirou's stomach dropped. Monokuma laughed as he continued. "As a member of the staff, you will not be participating in the trial! You'll be an overseer, like myself! But! You are certainly free to help with the investigation, as long as you keep your speculation to yourself. And to answer your first question, I'll announce when the investigation period is over! So get to it!"

 _Crap, I can't even help them figure out who did this?_ Reijirou thought.

"Wait!" Shiori suddenly cried out, "The punishment! You never told us what the punishment will be, when we catch the blackened!"

"Punishment?" Isao muttered to himself, "There's a punishment?"

Reijirou blushed slightly, realizing he'd completely forgotten about that. _Good catch, Shiori._

Monokuma was silent for a moment, then he said coyly, "Well, you're certainly sharp to remember that! It's quite simple! The punishment is the same for if the blackened wins or the campers win!" He paused. "The losing side...is executed!"

"What!" Reijirou exclaimed before he could stop himself.

"Executed…?" Hideyo said, trembling, "We'll be executed…?"

"That's right!" said Monokuma, "I'm a very, 'an eye for an eye' sort of bear! So you guys better work hard to find the blackened, unless you all wanna die! Upupupu!" And the intercoms clicked off.

More silence. _Shit...This just got even more serious; and of course now that I know what the consequences of failing to catch the blackened are, it turns out I can't help during the trial!_ Reijrou took a breath. _I'll work around it, just like everything else._

Just as Reijirou calmed himself enough to speak, Akiko strode confidently up to face the group. "Okay! As of now, I'm guarding the body, so nobody's gonna be tampering with it, or any of that shit! Try it and I'll hurl you into next week!"

"May I request that we get the body down?" Ikeda said, his face once again a steely, unreadable mask. "If I can examine the body I might be able to ascertain more about the nature of the injuries."

Akiko paused, but relented. "Sure, but I'll be watching for any tampering, ya hear?"

"Of course." Ikeda gave a slightly mocking bow. "Shall we get going then?"

"How are you two so calm about this!?" said Homura, "That's...that's Haruto! He was a living, breathing person yesterday, and now that he's not you're just gonna—"

"We need to investigate this case thoroughly if we're to make it past the trial," countered Ikeda, "It's not personal; there's simply no use in getting worked up right now."

Reijirou stepped up. "As much as it hurts, in a way he's right. I promise, once this is all over we will meet to deal with the...emotional side of this situation. Just know that, whatever you're feeling or however you're processing this, it's okay. And just do whatever you feel you can to best contribute to the investigation and the trial. You can do this. You can get through this."

Remy seemed to suddenly snap out of his daze. "Everyone...should investigate with someone else...so nothing gets...tampered with."

 _Oh god...that's right...the culprit is one of the students…_ Reijirou shivered.

"That's right!" shouted Gorou, "And we should spread out, search as many places as possible." This that, he grabbed the closest person, who happened to be Kenji, and began walking back towards the cabins. Kenji didn't protest, but he looked considerably out of his depth.

Soon more groups began wandering off. Eventually, the only people left by the flagpole were Reijirou, Akiko, Ikeda, Shiori, Isao, Hideyo, Kashie, and the still-unconscious Rika.

Kashie knelt beside Rika, and looked up at Reijirou. "Mr. Saiki, I…I think I can stay here with her…or I could maybe, uh, move her to the health center…?"

Reijirou pondered for a moment, then said, "For now leave her here. I'm still not sure what caused her to have such a strong reaction, and waking up in an unfamiliar place could set her off again. Thank you, though, for staying with her." Kashie gave a small nod.

Meanwhile, Isao gently put his hand on Shiori's shoulder. "It...it might not be okay, exactly, but I know we can figure this out."

"Yes yes!" said Hideyo as she threw her arm around Shiori's other shoulder, "You are very smart, and good at noticing things! Together we will surely solve this crime!"

Shiori wiped away some of her lingering tears. "...Thanks, guys. Um!" She turned to Reijirou. "I know you're not gonna be in the trial, exactly, but could you investigate with us?"

Reijirou smiled softly. "Of course. Anything I can do to help."

Shiori took a sharp breath in, then shook out her hands rapidly. "Okay! Let's check out this Monokuma File thing!"

Reijirou quickly pulled up the Monokuma File. He saw that, in addition to the text description, there was a diagram showing all of Haruto's wounds. Carefully he read the text.

'The victim is Haruto Hanko, the Penultimate Puzzle Master! The time of death was between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM last night. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the left side of the head. The body also has various other wounds on the arms, shoulders, head, and face inflicted both pre- and post-mortem. All of the wounds were caused by the same object.'

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Monokuma File #1

* * *

Reijirou bit his lip slightly. _8:00 PM to 9:00 PM? An exact time would have been nice…_

"The time of death…" Shiori murmured, "It happened during the talent show…"

He forced down a bit of bile in his throat. _No, demanding that all of the students come to the show would not necessarily have prevented this…Get a grip._

Looking back to the diagram, Reijirou located the head wound. It was only one of countless wounds. _Both pre- and post-mortem…_

"The killer likely didn't realize they'd killed him with the blow to the head," came Ikeda's voice, breaking into the little semi-cycle they'd formed.

Isao nodded, grimly. "I guess that they just…kept hitting him until he stopped moving…"

Hideyo paled, swallowing thickly.

Shiori turned to where Ikeda and Akiko had lowered Haruto's body. "Ikeda…do you, uh…sorry, this is so weird to ask, but do you—?"

"Of course I know about wounds and beatings and the like," Ikeda interrupted, "It's part of my job."

"Grr!" Hideyo exclaimed, "You don't have to so…so cold about it! Have some tact."

Shiori continued, "Is there anything else you've noticed about…about Haruto's body?"

Ikeda stood and faced them. "Well, from the size and shape of the wounds I can tell that the murder weapon was a long, blunt object with a rounded end. I can also tell that the killing blow was delivered in a downwards, diagonal direction." He mimed the direction of the blow against his own head with his hand.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Ikeda's Account

* * *

"Thanks, Ikeda," said Shiori.

While Reijirou was thankful to have the analysis, the fact that Ikeda could recognize these things made his skin crawl. _Why do you know these things? What happened in you life that let you learn how to see this stuff!? Tell me you secrets!_ He shook his head again. _No, later, when the threat of death isn't having over these kids' heads._

He turned to Ikeda. "Did you have trouble getting...the body down?"

"No...In fact, it was was almost strange how easy it was."

"You can take a look for yourself, if you wanna," said Akiko, "As long as I don't see you tampering with anything."

Isao took a step back. "I…don't think I could handle being too close," he said.

"It's okay; we'll tell you if we find something," Shiori reassured.

Slowly she, Hideyo, and Reijirou approached Haruto's body. He swallowed thickly, and tried to glance over the body quickly, just to see if anything else stood out. Hideyo stepped back almost immediately, shaking her head and scrunching up her face in distress. "There's nothing else...and I can't…"

"No, wait," Shiori said, kneeling down on the right side of the body, "Look at his hand." She gently picked up Haruto's right hand and turned it slightly so the others could see the front side of it. On the palm of the hand and going up the thumb were patches of blood. "This is the only place besides the head and face that has blood. So it must mean something, right?"

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Blood on Haruto's Hand

* * *

As Shiori and Reijirou stepped back again, Hideyo asked, "What does that even mean, though?"

"I'm not sure," Reijirou said, "But it's probably best not to get too deep into speculation now, when we don't have all of the pieces."

"Oh! Good thinking!" said Hideyo. "Where should we look next?"

"Actually," Isao interjected, "While you guys were looking at...the body, I found something over here." He lead the others to the side of the nature building, where a large black cloth lay in a crumpled heap.

Reijirou quickly stepped forward and began slowly spreading out the fabric. "Let me check this out." He didn't want one of the students getting hurt if something dangerous was inside. In the end, it turned out that there was nothing in or under the cloth, but while working with the cloth, Reijirou noticed something. "There's some kind of stain in it," he pronounced to the others. Carefully he took a sniff of the stain, then grimaced. "Blood. Not a lot, but definitely blood."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Black Cloth

* * *

"What could this be doing here?" Shiori wondered.

"I don't know," Hideyo replied. "Is there anywhere else we should check around here?"

"I want to check out something in the mess hall really quick," said Reijirou.

Shiori stepped up. "I'll come with. Hideyo, Isao, can you check around out here to see if we missed anything?"

Hideyo gave a small salute. "Can do, Shiori!"

Reijirou led the way into the mess hall, immediately heading up onto the stage.

"Mr. Saiki, slow down!" said Shiori as she caught up to Reijirou in the backstage area.

"I was right," said Reijirou. He gestured to the doorway that led to the hallway around the back of the stage. "There's supposed to be a black cloth covering up this doorway; I remember seeing it when I checked things out back here the day before yesterday."

Shiori's eyes widened. "You think the cloth outside is that cloth?"

"Yep," said Reijirou, "It's the correct size and everything…"

* * *

Truth Bullet 'Black Cloth' Updated

* * *

He continued. "Shiori, do you happen to remember if the cloth was here during the show?"

"Uh, I don't. Not really," said Shiori, sheepishly. "Maybe we can ask Kashie or Hideyo? They were backstage for the whole show."

"Good thinking. Let's go ask them then."

When they turned around to go back outside, they saw Karen and Remy carrying a rather old looking printer. They set it down on the ground next to one of the only electrical outlets and plugged it in.

As Reijirou and Shiori walked over, Reijirou looked at Remy fiddling with various cables in confusion. "Um…Remy, what are you doing?"

"Oh!" said Shiori, perking up, "Is this the printer you found in the health center?"

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Yes...and apparently, there was nowhere there to both plug in the printer...and place it down, so Remy requested I help him…chaperon it to this…whereabouts."

Reijirou and Shiori gave each other a very quick, furtive glance that Reijirou at least understood to mean 'Karen's just being herself so let's move on.' So Reijirou asked, "Remy, why do you need the printer?"

Remy looked up from where he was fiddling with various wires connect the his camera to the printer to the wall. "I have pictures of the talent show…and I want to print copies for everyone before the trial." After a moment, he clarified, "Maybe it can help…establish alibis, or…show us things we didn't notice at the time…"

Shiori's brightened and she smiled. "That's actually really smart Remy! We're actually just about to go investigate more, but do you think we could check them out?"

Remy paused, but held out his camera and said, "Sure…I put the ones I'm gonna print together so you don't have to look through all of them..."

Reijirou took the camera and let Shiori see as he flipped through the pictures. Karen quietly leaned over to see as well. The first set were from before the show while everyone was setting up. There were ones of Reijirou and Hideyo setting up the backdrop, Shiori and Isao at the light board, Akiko and Kokoa eating chocolate, and Take, Homura, and Seihiko eating dinner. Then came the pictures of the show itself, there were two or three pictures of each act, plus Kashie announcing the show.

"The lighting is strange in that one," said Karen, suddenly pointing to one of the pictures of Homura's act.

Reijirou squinted. "Really?" Looking closers, he could see light pouring in from backstage. _The stage door! The cloth on the stage door must have been moved by then._

"What if we check the picture before this one?" suggested Shiori.

"Good idea," said Reijirou as he clicked back to the last photo. It was still Homura on stage, but the angle of the photo showed more of the backstage. Most of the backstage area was too dark to see anything in, but it just made the light pouring in from backstage door stand out all the more. Only this time, someone was standing in the door. Because of the way they stood it was difficult to discern who it was, but it was clear they were holding something bunched up in their hands.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Remy's Photos (Before Show)

Truth Bullet Obtained: Remy's Photos (During Show)

* * *

"Woah…" whispered Shiori, "I can't believe you noticed that."

Karen looked at her incredulously. "Are you surprised that I could notice something you didn't?"

"No no!" said Shiori, "I just meant that this could be really important, and I didn't know this even happened! So thank you; it was really helpful."

Karen paused, maybe a bit surprised. "Oh…um, you're welcome, Shiori," she muttered.

Reijirou handed the camera back to Remy. _Good job!_ thought Reijirou, _We do not need random hurt feelings coming up when we're, no, when you all are going to accusing each other of murder later today…_

Finally the two headed back out to the courtyard, but just as they were approaching the others, Hideyo ran up to them, bouncing in excitement.

"Guys, look what we found! More blood." She pointed to ground around the flagpole where there were various bloody marks. The first marks that stood out to Reijirou were some partial foot prints. Even though most of them were incomplete, he could clearly make out that they were quite small; the design of the prints looked more like boots, although he couldn't know for sure.

Isao pointed to a different set of marks. "It looks like something was dragged across the ground."

Reijirou nodded. "And they lead back down the path."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Bloody Footprints

Truth Bullet Obtained: Bloody Drag Marks

* * *

"I bet wherever these lead will be important!" exclaimed Hideyo. She snatched Isao's arm. "Let's follow them, yes yes!"

With Hideyo leading the way, the group followed the drag marks away from the flagpole area. The bloodiness of the marks faded fairly quickly, but the drag marks themselves continued all the way back past the barn, the cabins, and eventually to the pond. The marks curved off of the dirt path into an open area between two clumps of bushes right at the pond's edge.

 _Maybe this is where the murder took place,_ Reijirou thought to himself, _At the very least, something happened here._

In the bright mid morning light it was clear that some sort of struggle took place at the pond side. Various scuff marks and bits of torn up grass littered the ground; there was also some blood, most of it small splatters, but in one area right by the pond's edge it seemed that some blood had been washed away with water.

"I think…something happened here," said Isao.

Shiori raised an eyebrow at him, just a bit.

Isao coughed, blushing a bit. "Well uh, I guess that's kind of self evident, but you never know what could be useful to point out!"

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Signs of Struggle at Pond Side

* * *

"How about we split into pairs to look around?" suggested Reijirou, "That way we can cover more ground faster." The students nodded.

"Hideyo and I can check these bushes," Shiri said, gesturing to the bushes behind her, "And you two can check the others?"

The group split and began investigating their designated areas. Isao still seemed nervous, Reijirou noted; he fiddled with his pants seam as he pushed aside the various brush branches.

The first thing of note that Reijirou found was a pile of bread loaf sized stones. He waved Isao over. "Hey, check these out." He pointed to the clumps of dirt still attached to some of them. "Don't these look like they were moved here?"

"Yeah," Isao replied, "Like someone pulled them out of the ground and put them here.I can see the dents in the ground from where they were right over there. But why?" He glanced at a few more rocks of similar sizes next to the pile. "And why not put them all in a pile instead of just leaving some there?"

Reijirou couldn't think of an answer, so he said, "Let's keep looking."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Pile of Rocks

* * *

As they continued searching, Reijirou quietly asked, "How do you feel...about all this?"

Isao gave a slightly choked laugh. "I'm uh, not sure actually? I don't think it's fully hit me…And I just, spent a lot of time trying to distract myself from this...even being a possibility? So…I guess my brain is still in denial mode? Ha ha, at least like this I can still help find clues instead of having a meltdown."

Reijirou frowned. "At some point you are going to need to process these feelings. We all are."

"Yeah, I know." Suddenly Isao perked up, then began to wade out into the pond.

"Isao, what are you doing?" called Shiori.

Isao reached under some branches that hungover the pond edge. "I found something!" He pulled his hand out of the bush to reveal a wooden baseball bat. He quickly returned to shore and begun shaking out his shoes, but he seemed excited. "Maybe this is the murder weapon!"

Reijirou walked over and looked over the bat. It was a standard wooden bat, like the ones in the in the sports equipment shed he'd finally checked out yesterday afternoon. Looking closer, he saw a small notch in the bat, about halfway up. _What could have caused that?_

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Baseball Bat

* * *

Hideyo giggled slightly. "Isao! Surely you could have gotten to the bat without getting yourself soaked!"

Isao shrugged. "Maybe! I just saw it and went right for it. At least these shoes are pretty thin; they shouldn't take too long to dry."

"Sorry to dampen the mood again guys, but it looks like we got another weapon!" said Shiori, standing up from where she'd been kneeling behind a bush, holding up a kitchen knife. The group all gathered around to take a look. The knife itself was not too large, but it looked very sharp. Most of the knife's sharp edge was covered in dried blood.

"...Guess Kokoa was right about even the stuff in the kitchen being dangerous…" murmured Isao.

"We couldn't have predicted this!" reassured Shiori.

"And honestly, she was also right about almost anything being a possible weapon," added Reijirou. "Frankly, I would bet that Monokuma would interfere if anyone tried to get rid of everything even remotely dangerous." _If that weren't the case, I would have hidden everything myself._

"Well, I don't think there's anything else here, so should we head back?" said Hideyo, "I thought I saw some people poking around in the cabins, so maybe we should check that out too?"

"Sure," said Isao, turning to head back.

Just as the group was about to leave, Shiori gasped and lunged into one of the bushes. "Guys, I found something else!"

Immediately they all stopped and turned to her. "Woah! What is it?" asked Reijirou as Shiori struggled her way back out of the bush.

After straightening her clothes and pulling a twig out of her hair, Shiori held up a somewhat small crumpled up piece of paper. "It looks like something's written on it," she said as she smoothed it out.

Everyone looked over the paper. On it was written, 'Listen; I've found something that could help us all escape, but I can't make it work by myself. I need your help to solve this puzzle and save everyone. Meet me at the pond tonight at 8:30.' One of the edges looked ripped, but the other three edges were normal. _Like the paper was torn out of something,_ thought Reijirou.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Strange Note

* * *

Reijirou looked up from the note to check on the students. Hideyo looked pale and shaky, tugging at the sleeves of her kimono. Shiori furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought. Isao's eyes were wide, his hand over his mouth as he seemed to process the possible implications of this. All Reijirou could say was, "Good find Shiori; this is definitely important."

Finally the group began to walk back up the path. As they passed the sports equipment shed, they saw Homura rummaging through the equipment, with Kokoa standing nearby with a small notebook, making notes.

Hideyo waved to them and said, "Oh hey guys! Did you find anything interesting?"

Kokoa shook her head. "Not really. Lots of things that could be weapons in theory, but nothing that particularly stands out."

"And it doesn't look like anything is hidden in this stuff!" said Homura as she looked up from her rummaging. "Still, I wouldn't have even thought of looking here, so good call Kokoa!"

Hideyo frowned. "Why did you think this area looked suspicious?"

Kokoa glared, her mouth in a hard line. "I'm not telling you; one of you could be the culprit for all I know!"

Hideyo gasped and took a step back, drawing her arms to her chest. Her mouth was open in an expression of pure indignance.

Reijirou quickly stepped forward to diffuse the situation. "Kokoa, I don't think withholding information from people will help in the long run; everything we find will need to come out in the trial eventually."

"Besides, none of us are the culprit!" added Isao, stepping up beside Hideyo in solidarity. She immediately began to relax and lowered her arms.

Kokoa glanced between each of them for a few seconds, then sighed. "Fine. Last night after I left the mess hall I went back to my cabin. Karen was there, and so we just...talked for a while. Anyway, sometime after nighttime, I went to the bathroom, and I thought I saw someone walking towards this area. When I remembered it, I figured...maybe something happened over here."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Kokoa's Account

* * *

After a moment of silence, Shiori said, "It uh...turns out you were right. We just got back from investigating the pond and we found a bunch of stuff."

"Really?" said Homura, popping up to stand besides Kokoa, "Then we gotta check it out! Let's go!" She grabbed Kokoa's arm and led her away.

The group watched them go, then Shiori went over to Hideyo and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't let what Kokoa said get you down. She's just scared, I think."

Reijirou nodded in what he hoped was a sagely manner. "She just learned that the one people she's gotten to know over the last few days wasn't what she thought they were…It's understandable, but it's still on her to work through that, not you."

Hideyo looked at each of them, gave them a slightly nervous smile as she tugged at her sleeves again, and said, "How about…we get going back to the cabins?"

"Great idea," said Isao, and with that the group once again headed towards the cabins.

Quickly they reached Haruto's cabin. Just as they reached the door, Gorou came bursting out of the door, with Kenji following behind him nervously. They had to jump out of Gorou's way, and the determination and focus rolling off of him in waves. Just as he passed them, Reijirou noticed that Gorou held something in his clenched fist. He almost asked Gorou to stop, but the words died on his tongue. _He wouldn't tell me, and I bet he'd be harder to convince than Kokoa._

Recentering himself, Reijirou followed the others into the cabin. He quickly saw it was quite crowded, as Seihiko and Take were in the cabin as well. Seihiko stood in one corner looking up at Take who was sitting on one of the top bunks and going through a bag. He would take out an item, examine it, and then toss it to Seihiko who would place it on the bunk below.

"Take, what you doing?" said Isao, "That's Haruto's bunk!"

"Uh, I'm investigating, obviously," Take replied, giving Isao a pointed look.

Hideyo frowned. "All I see you looking at are clothes. What do Haruto's clothes and things have to do with the case?"

"Well, here's the thing, little lady," said Take, hopping down from the bunk and striding over to Hideyo, "It's not like the guy's gonna be using this stuff anymore, 'cause he's dead, so I might as well check to see if there's anything I want. I'm not even actually stealing; dead people don't own anything!"

Hideyo froze, giving Take an icy look. Shiori simply gaped at Take's audacity. Isao shook his head, stepping forward. "But there is something called common decency that requires you give the dead some respect. Which includes not just taking their things because you want them!"

Take barked out a laugh. "You say that like wanting something isn't reason enough for me to take it!"

Shiori hesitated for a moment, then said, "It...isn't? Usually? Enough of a reason?"

Reijirou could not form words, he was so flabbergasted. _I know he's a bandit, but I thought it was more of a necessity thing? No, I just hoped that, I had no way of knowing…I'm gonna have to have a talk with him about this but…this is going to be difficult._

"Anyway," said Take, turning away from them, "It's not like the puzzle guy even had much worth taking, besides a spare jacket I can't wear 'cause it's too small." He picked up said jacket and tossed it under the bed. Then he gave a slightly scary smile to Reijirou, as if daring him to stop him. "Maybe I'll keep the rest, just cause it's there, you know?"

"Um," said Seihiko, finally breaking his silence, "Maybe we should check under the mattress, in case he hid anything under there?"

Shiori quickly stepped up between Seihiko and Take. "Great idea, Seihiko! Can someone get the other end?" She took a few steps up the ladder of the bunk bed and lifted the edge of the mattress. Isao lifted up the other end.

Reijirou walked up to take a peek. His eyes immediately went wide when he saw many many sheets of paper, all covered with notes and diagrams. He saw sketched out maps of the island and of different buildings. Some of the notes seemed like an incomprehensible mess of numbers, letters, and lines. He bit his lip. _Haruto really was working to figure out something that would help us. Or at least, he was working on something…_ He also saw that many of the papers were torn up, or had large sections scribbled out. _And he was getting frustrated..._

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Haruto's Notes

* * *

"Oh wow…" said Shiori, picking up one of the papers, "Do you guys understand any of this?"

"Other than the maps and names? Not a clue," said Isao.

Hideyo carefully picked up a map detailing all of the electric fences on the island. "How…? Why did he—?"

"Oh! Look at the that!" Seihiko interrupted, reaching over some of the papers to pull out a small paperback book. He flipped through it's pages. "It's a book full of word puzzles and things…"

"I've seen that," said Shiori, "Haruto had it when I saw him the night before last."

"You saw him then?" asked Isao. "He got up so early yesterday, I don't think any of us in the cabin saw him at all, so you might have been the last to see him."

"Oh geez…Wait, Seihiko, can I see it?" When she had the book, she skimmed through the pages all the way to the back, then held out the book so everyone could see. "Look! The last few pages have been torn out."

Sure enough, Reijirou could see that two pages had been torn out of the book. The tears looked rough, like they were done quickly.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Haruto's Puzzle Book

* * *

Suddenly, a chime rang through the intercoms. Everyone jumped slightly as Monokuma began speaking. "Alright campers, investigation time is finished! Hopefully you used your time wisely, 'cause it's finally time for the Class Trial! Everyone meet at the fire pit! That's down the path that leads into the woods past the cabins, for those of you who never look at the map I gave you, ungrateful brats. Everyone must attend the trial, or you'll be punished with extreme justice! Upupu!" The intercom clicked off again.

Everyone looked at each other. Reijirou cleared his throat slightly and said, "Well then, we should get going. Come on everyone." He led the group out of the cabin and back up the path. When they reached, they took the left path leading into the woods. After a few minutes of walking, they came upon a clearing. Around the clearing was another electric fence with a large metal gate, but now that gate was open. Slowly they entered the gate and found a simple fire pit with various log benches around it.

It didn't take too long for the rest of the students to arrive. Thankfully Rika was awake again, although she looked a bit shaky, wrapped in a blanket from the health center and clutching her green teddy bear. Shiori rushed over to her, and wanting to access Rika's state, Reijirou followed.

"Rika, how are you feeling?" Shiori asked immediately.

Rika shrugged. "I'm…I just feel weird? Like a bunch of snakes are wriggling around in my stomach. But not in a 'I'm gonna throw up' way?"

Kashie, who stood beside Rika, reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a packet of antacids from the health center. "You could…try one of these? They help me sometimes…when I get queasy." Rika took one and popped it into her mouth. Her face scrunched up a bit at the taste, but she seemed a bit steadier now.

"Rika, I want you to take it easy during the trial, if you can," said Reijirou, "If things start to get overwhelming, go ahead and sit down to just breath for a bit. I'm not sure if we'll be able to have breaks during the trial, but if we can I'll make sure you can get them when you need them."

Rika smiled softly, a different sort of smile from her bright, cheery ones. "Thank you Mr. Saiki."

Shiori turned to Kashie. "I was meaning to ask you before, did you notice anything weird happening backstage during the talent show? We think some things might have happened, but since you were back there…"

Kashie shuffled her feet, then whispered, "I…I'm really not sure—"

Before Kashie could continue, a rolling, rumbling sound engulfed the clearing. Slowly, the ground in front of the fire pit began to open, revealing a set of steps leading down into the ground.

Taking a shaky breath, Reijirou strode forward, joining the students in their descent. At the bottom of the steps was a large, industrial style elevator. Before anyone entered the elevator he moved to the front of the group and caught everyone's attention. "Everyone…" Suddenly he didn't know what to say. _What can I even say? These kids are about to try to solve a murder, where their own lives depend on getting to the right solution, and where the culprit is one of their friends! What is there even to say?_ Composing himself again, he said, "I know this is scary…Quite frankly, I'm scared too. But…you are all smart, and talented in your own ways, so…I know you can do this."

His small speech complete, the students began filing into the elevator. Once everyone was inside, the doors creaked shut, and the elevator began it's slow, shaky descent into the earth. An aura of chill washed over everyone as they faced their final moment before the first Class Trial.

* * *

 _And that's the investigation done! Feel free to speculate in the reviews; Whos, whys, wheres and hows, I love hearing what you guys think might have happened and what will happen next. I really hope I've managed to strike a balance of interesting mysteries while still giving enough hints that you'll have a change to figure out at least some of it. Now onto the trial! Oh boy…See you all next time!_


	9. Chapter 1 (part 5)

Truth Bullets:

 _Monokuma File #1: The victim is Haruto Hanko, the Penultimate Puzzle Master. The time of death was between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM last night. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the side of the head. The body also has various other wounds, inflicted both pre- and post-mortem. All of the wounds were caused by the same object._

 _Ikeda's Analysis: The murder weapon was a long, round ended blunt object. The killing blow to the side of the head was made with a downward diagonal blow, coming down at an angle to the side of head._

 _Blood on Body's Hand: The inside of Haruto's right hand has blood on it, particularly the palm and thumb._

 _Remy's Pictures (Before Show): A series of pictures Remy took before the talent show. They include: Hideyo and Mr. Saiki tying up the backdrop, Shiori and Isao at the light board, Take, Homura, and Seihiko eating before the show._

 _Remy's Pictures (During Show): A series of pictures Remy took during the talent show. They include: Kashie introducing the show, Rika/Seihiko/Homura/Isao/Shiori/Take/Akiko during each of their talents. In the background of one of the picture's of Homura's act you can see the silhouette of a person holding a crumbled mass in the backstage door, which no longer has the cloth covering it._

 _Black Cloth: A fairly large black cloth was left near the side of the nature center. It seems to have dried blood on it. Mr. Saiki believes it is the cloth that previously covered the doorway in the backstage area. It was present before the talent show began._

 _Bloody Footprints: There are small, slightly bloody footprints around the flagpole. The prints look like they came from boots._

 _Bloody Drag Marks: There are somewhat bloody drag marks on the path leading up to the flagpole. They lead to the pond._

 _Signs of Struggle: There are signs on a struggle on the ponds banks, including footprints, torn up grass, and some blood; it appears that some of the blood has been washed away by water._

 _Baseball Bat: A baseball bat from the sports shed was found floating in the pond. It has a small notch in it._

 _Bloody Knife: A slightly bloody kitchen knife left in the bushes by the pond._

 _Pile of Rocks: A pile of largish rocks by the pond, near the signs of struggle. It looks like the rocks were moved to that position recently, and some rocks are next to the pile instead of in it._

 _Mysterious Note: A crumpled note found at the pond, written on paper with one edge torn. It reads "Listen; I've found something that could help us all escape, but I can't make it work by myself. I need your help to solve this puzzle and save everyone. Meet me at the pond tonight at 8:30."_

 _Kokoa's Account: She and Karen were in the cabin most of the evening, beginning before 8:00 PM. After nighttime, she went to use the bathroom and saw someone heading towards the pond/sports equipment shed._

 _Haruto's Notes: Underneath the mattress of Haruto's bed were various notes, maps, drawings, and diagrams. Besides the maps and names, most of it is indecipherable. Some of the notes have been torn up, or had large sections scribbled out._

 _Haruto's Puzzle Book: Haruto's puzzle book, left in his cabin under his mattress, has it's final two pages torn out._

* * *

As the elevator descended into the earth, Shiori looked over the Truth Bullets, trying to fully wrap her head around the reality of what she was about to do. Even reading about all of the clues she and her friends had discovered, some part of her brain seemed to be ignoring the fact that in a few minutes, she and the others would have to solve an actual murder. And one of them would be working against the others because they're the culprit. _And everyone is working with the threat of death hanging over their heads._ Shiori gulped.

Finally, after a long, silent descent, the elevator screeched to a halt. The doors opened, revealing a large, circular room. The cycling was somewhere high above them, hidden in shadow. On each side of the room were pairs of huge, metal doors. But the main feature of the room was the structure in the center. Sixteen curved wooden podiums were arranged in a circle. Behind that, directly across from the elevator, stood a tall desk, like a judge's podium, with a T.V. monitor mounted to the front. And a top it sat Monokuma.

"Upupupu! Welcome to the trial grounds! Everyone go ahead and find your podium. And Mr Saiki, you're on my right." For a moment everyone simply stared at the room. Monokuma squinted. "What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

Snapped out of her stupor, Shiori made her way to her podium, on the left side. Looking directly left from there she saw Mr. Saiki sitting on a tall stool beside Monokuma. Glancing around the circle she noted where everyone else stood. Going clockwise from her, it went Isao, Kokoa, Kashie, Ikeda, Hideyo, Take, Seihiko, Homura, Kenji, Rika, Remy, Akiko, Gorou, and Karen. In the podium directly to her right was a stand holding a black and white photo of Haruto, framed like a memorial photo, with a red X over his face.

"Now that everyone's in place, we can get started," said Monokuma, and he held up a paw. "First, a quick review of the rules of the Class Trial! Everyone will discuss the evidence of the case in order to determine the identity of the blackened, and then vote for who you think the culprit is! If the majority votes for the correct person, only the blackened will be punished. However! If the majority chooses incorrectly, I'll punish all the students besides the blackened, and that person will escape from the camp!" Monokuma's eyes glinted. "Also, refusing to vote is not an option! At least, if you want to keep living, that is! So make sure you vote for someone. Now then, let us get this heart pumping, ultra-dramatic trial underway!"

Slowly, Mr. Saiki raised his hand. "Monokuma, I have a question."

"What?!" Monokuma snapped.

"You said that I… _we,_ are merely overseers," Mr. Saiki said. He took a second to swallow before he continued. "And I wanted to know exactly what that entails."

"It means that we will not be participating in the discussions!" Monokuma gestured down to the students. "However, we will ensure there is an orderly trial environment, which means no fighting! And I will give clarification on certain rules of the trial, and occasional other bits of clarification to make sure no dumb misunderstandings lead us too far off topic! But only sometimes! It's still up to you guys to figure out the murder! There! Understand?"

"Yes, thanks…" Mr. Saiki mumbled, rolling his eyes.

 _I guess Mr. Saiki isn't happy that he can't help us out more,_ thought Shiori.

"If that nonsense is done, we should get started," said Ikeda, leaning forward against his podium, "Now, I'm giving the culprit one chance to confess, right now. If you don't take it…" His eyes darkened, "I will show you no mercy. I will make you confess, and not matter how unpleasant it may get for you or anyone else."

"Jesus, it sounds like you're threatening to kill them!" said Gorou.

Ikeda straightened up, crossing his arms. "No, that would be unhelpful, and just trigger another trial. And I'd prefer to avoid bodily harm if possible—"

Mr. Saiki jumped off his stool. "Nope! No bodily harm in the trial ground! Or anywhere else!" he shouted.

Ikeda raised his hands in a calming manner, although Shiori did not find it calming. "Of course, Teacher. Understood." Mr. Saiki slowly returned to his stool.

"Okay but like, what are we supposed to even do now?" asked Homura, itching a bit at her wrist under the edge of her cast, "Where do we even start?"

"The body? Where it was found? You know, what the whole case is about?" said Kokoa.

"Right!" said Shiori, finding her voice. _I need to make sure we have the facts straight. If we get mixed up, we'll make the wrong conclusion!_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Monokuma File #1 | Blood on Haruto's Hand | Ikeda's Account

HIDEYO: Uh, so, discovering the body!

SEIHIKO: The body was _hung up on the flagpole_...

KOKOA: Ikeda and I found the body this morning…

KOKOA: …while we were waiting for the mess hall doors to open.

IKEDA: As soon as we saw it, we ran _to get Mr. Saiki_.

AKIKO: His face was all janked up…

RIKA: Why would the killer do that…

RIKA: …if they were just gonna _hang him to death?_

HOMURA: Maybe it was an act of rage! I mean, Haruto wasn't always friendly.

REMY: …This seems excessive for that.

HOMURA: Hey, I don't know how a killer thinks!

-Truth Bullet: Monokuma File #1-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Um, Rika, since you were unconscious for the investigation, you didn't get a chance to look at the Monokuma File, did you?" said Shiori, giving her a sympathetic look.

"No…?" replied Rika, with a sad look, "Right when I woke up, Monokuma told us to come here. Did I get something wrong?"

Shiori nodded. "The cause of death wasn't hanging; it was blunt force trauma to the side of the head." As she said it, she saw that the file had appeared on the monitor attached to Monokuma's podium. _It brings up evidence so everyone can see it? That's nice, I can point to visual parts of the clue if needed._

"Pow!" said Take, swinging his fist.

"That's…a truly brutal way to…well um, to murder," said Karen, struggling to find the right words.

"And the killing blow was not the only injury," added Ikeda, "There are more blows all over his arms, head, and face."

"Yep, definitely overkill," said Homura, gulping.

"I guess it was a real drawn out thing," said Isao.

"Okay, fine, we've established the cause of the death and that there were lots of injuries," said Gorou, tensely, "Can we move on?"

"But what do we talk about now?" asked Kenji.

"Look," said Kokoa, "There is no formal structure for this trial thing. We should just move from subject to subject without constantly asking about it." She crossed her arms to punctuate her statement.

Take groaned in exasperation. "Look, knowing how the guy died is all well and good, but I wanna know what the murder weapon was!"

"Eventually that will be useful to know, yes," said Ikeda, with what Shiori suspected was a hint of anger. "But I think I want to discuss the scene of the crime a bit more first."

Take raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine! You're the only one of us who knows anything about this legal crap."

"...Interrogators aren't usually in court though…" Remy pointed out. Ikeda did not respond to that.

"Okay…we could talk about what else we all found at the scene?" asked Homura.

Kokoa gave a loud groan. "Quit asking and just start discussing!"

"Can we please be civil while we do this…?" asked Mr. Saiki in a soft voice. Monokuma gave him a glare. "No? Not gonna be civil, just gonna argue? Okay, cool, cool. I'm done."

 _We definitely found some clues at the scene,_ thought Shiori, _I need to make sure to point them out!_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Bloody Footprints | Bloody Drag Marks | Signs of Struggle

GOROU: Okay, what else was at the flagpole when we found the body?

REMY: I didn't see anything that _could have been used as a weapon…_

KAREN: Certainly nothing obvious, like a… sanguinated rock or the like.

RIKA: What does sanguinated mean?

TAKE: Means I still don't have my murder weapon!

HIDEYO: Take, be serious!

KENJI: Doesn't it seem strange that there's no like uh, big pool of blood? At the scene?

KENJI: Especially since _Haruto was killed there?_

RIKA: I don't wanna talk about blood!

AKIKO: Well you're gonna _have to get over it!_

RIKA: Ah! Don't yell at me!

-Truth Bullet: Bloody Drag Marks-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Wait!" Shiori cried out, "Kenji, there's actually some evidence that the crime took place somewhere else! Isao and Hideyo found these bloody drag marks." Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw photos of the marks appear on the screen. They looked sort of grainy, like they came from a far away camera but were zoomed it. She continued. "I think the crime took place somewhere else, but the body was dragged to the flagpole afterwards."

"We found a bunch of evidence over by the side of the pond," said Isao, "Including more blood, and some possible murder weapons."

"Yeah! We found a bat, and a knife!" said Hideyo as photos of the weapons replaced the drag marks, "I bet the killer wanted to hide where the crime really took place, so he moved the body."

Some of the other nodded, and Kenji blushed bashfully. "I didn't see those…but Gorou and I did check out the pond. I should have realized…"

Gorou rolled his eyes. "We barely got a chance to look at anything 'cause of the timing, and the fact that some…other people were running around the scene making a mess."

Homura immediately turned to Gorou and said, "Hey! We were investigating!"

"By climbing in bushes?" Gorou countered.

"There could have been something like, hidden in there! The blackened could have wanted to hide evidence, like Hideyo said," Homura argued.

"Very well," said Karen, "But how to you suppose the killer dragged the body? Those marks, they didn't…look like the sort that come from feet dragging in the dirt…If that were the case, the marks would be two…parallelogram lines."

Shiori thought she heard Mr. Saiki whisper, "Parallelo— oh, parallel lines…" Thankfully the conversation moved on before Karen could become offended.

"They're more sort of…wide," Remy pointed out, "And not...very deep either."

Shiori smiled slightly. "We found something that connects to that too! Back by the flagpole, we found a black cloth with blood on it. Mr. Saiki was super helpful and checked it for anything dangerous and—"

"How does that explain the drag marks?" Kokoa interrupted.

Ikeda smiled slyly. "Indeed, Miss Leader. If you are going to make such bold claims, you have to explain yourself."

 _How does the cloth explain the bloody drag marks? Well, the culprit used it…But how did they use it?_

* * *

THINKING TIME

Question: How did the culprit use the cloth?

A: They laid the body on it to stop blood from getting on the ground while it was moved.

 _[B: They wrapped the body in it so it would be easier to drag along the ground.]_

C: They used it to hide themselves while they dragged the body.

SHIORI: This is the answer!

* * *

"I think the culprit sort of, put the body in the middle of the cloth, then gathered up the edges so it was wrapped inside," explained Shiori, visualizing the procedure in her mind, "Then the culprit could just drag the wrapped body along the ground. The blood from the wounds soaked into the cloth and then was left in the dirt."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Homura, shaking her head, "So, you're saying the killer, like, wrapped up the body in the cloth and dragged it away like they were taking out the garbage?"

Shiori shuttered a bit at the image. "That's…actually not a bad metaphor."

"So we just need to figure out who moved the body, and we've got the killer!" cheered Rika. After a second, her face fell. "Not that that's…a fun thing, but uh…I'm just happy it seems like we're making progress?"

"Wait," said Akiko, looking baffled. "Why was the cloth even there? Did it come from the sports shed or something?"

"Nope!" said Homura, "I looked all over the shed and there were no clothes in it."

Kashie raised her hand timidly. "When I uh, put my bat back in the shed a few days ago, I also…didn't see any clothes there either…"

"Then is we can assume the cloth came from somewhere else," Seihiko concluded.

Shiori saw Mr. Saiki fidget in his seat. It looked like he wanted to saw something, but he stayed silent. _Didn't Mr. Saiki think the cloth came from the backstage area? But is that important to say right now, or should I wait?_

Before she could decide, the discussion moved on as Isao scratched his head. "But we still don't know why the cloth was there. Maybe the culprit brought it?"

"Honestly, I don't think we will be able to determine how or why the cloth was at the scene until we establish more about what happened at the pond," said Ikeda, crossing his arms, "If we use the clues there to determine exactly what happened between Haruto and the culprit, we should be able to discover the purpose of the cloth."

Akiko grinned eagerly and punched her fist into her other open palm. "Hell yeah! I didn't get to see any of this shit, so you better explain everything you saw!"

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Signs of a Struggle | Bloody Knife | Pile of Rocks

ISAO: The drag marks from the flagpole…

ISAO: …stop when they reach the side of the pond.

HOMURA: When Kokoa and I checked it out…

HOMURA: ...We only saw _a tiny bit of blood._

KOKOA: Not much else too suspicious.

GOROU: Same with me and Kenji.

HIDEYO: But Shiori, Isao, and I also found _the bat and the knife!_

SHIORI: One of them was probably the murder weapon.

KASHIE: Did the culprit…

KASHIE: …wait in the bushes and sneak up on Haruto?

ISAO: No, I…I think _they fought first._

RIKA: This is all so confusion to keep track of…

IKEDA: It's really not.

-Truth Bullet: Signs of a Struggle-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

* * *

"I agree with Isao," said Shiori, "The scuffs in the dirt, the blood on the ground and the way it was partially washed away…"

"Plus the weapons and things we found there," continued Isao, "I think it makes sense that Haruto and the culprit fought before Haruto was killed."

"And then the culprit tried to wash away the evidence with water from the pond," Shiori concluded.

"Okay, but…" said Kenji, "How…how do we know which person had which weapon…?"

"From the wounds, clearly," said Ikeda, a small smile on his lips, "The wounds on Haruto were all from a blunt object; no cuts, slashes, or stabs. That means the culprit must have wielded the bat, and Haruto the knife. In fact, it is certain from his wounds that the bat is the murder weapon."

Gorou side-eyed Ikeda. "How can you be so sure of that? The Monokuma File only said that all the wounds were caused by the same thing. The killer still could have used their fists."

Ikeda's grin faded. "I examined the wounds myself; their shape could only have come from an instrument the shape and size of that bat." His smile returned, only it was colder this time. "And if you wish to question my insights, please know that I have seen wounds of this sort and countless other kinds up close more times than I can count."

Akiko blinked. "Jesus, I know you were an interrogator, but did you actually beat people up to get them to talk?"

"I work for the police," Ikeda replied immediately, "Such conduct would be unseemly."

Mr. Saiki shot up. "How?! How have you worked with the police?!

"Irrelevant!" said Monokuma, "No one likes off topic tangents! Okay, I do, sometimes they add some needed levity to things, but you're asking a serious question, so naw."

Mr. Saiki grumbled as he sat back down.

Remy shuffled his feet awkwardly. "The police can be super intimidating though…" He looked around a bit as everyone stared at him. "What? Oh, it's not like…I've ever really met a police officer…Maybe I watch too many cop shows…never mind then…"

Monokuma nodded. "See? That's what an off-topic comment should be! Funny and we get back on topic quickly!" Mr. Saiki looked incredulously at Monokuma.

Returning to Ikeda's comment, Shiori frowned. _Why is Ikeda so defensive all of a sudden?_ After a moments pause, the discussion continued.

"Okay, so we have the situation with the bat mostly sorted out," said Homura, "But what about the knife? We can't say for sure Haruto had it. It is possible the culprit also had the knife, but didn't get a chance to use it."

"I think it's a…reasonable assumption to make," said Karen. "Why would the culprit choose to use the bat if they possessed a more…foreboding weapon in the knife."

"Why would Haruto have a knife though?" asked Seihiko, "It wasn't like anyone was acting especially dangerous, right?"

"Gorou's been having fun being a lone wolf though," Take pointed out, snickering a bit, "He's really been giving us the…cold shoulder.

"Wow, you're hilarious," Gorou hissed, "I just don't see the point in hanging out with you people. And it's not like any of you sought me out or anything."

Shiori flinched a bit at that. _That's true…I assumed he didn't want to talk to us, so I never looked for him._ She squared her shoulders. _Well, when we get through this, that's gonna change!_

Homura ran her good hand through her hair. "But then why did Haruto have the knife?"

 _I feel like I might have an idea…_ Shiori bit her lip again. _But if I point it out, I'm not sure I'll like the path we end up going down…_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Haruto's Notes | Mysterious Note | Karen's Account

TAKE: We finally get our murder weapon…

TAKE: …and we're talking about a weapon that _didn't even get used to off someone?_

HOMURA: Someone please give me an answer!

HOMURA: I feel like my head is gonna like, explode from not knowing!

KOKOA: It's simple; he took it _for protection._

RIKA: But who'd he need to protect himself from?

KAREN: There might not have been a…specialific person in mind.

AKIKO: Or ya know, he was probably nervous about two literal martial artists running around!

AKIKO: Seriously, Dictionary, if you're half as good as Bunny, and you two decided to go on the hunt? We'd all die.

HIDEYO: Honestly, he might have just _been paranoid about the fact we hadn't escaped._

HIDEYO: Sneaking around all the time…Geez…

IKEDA: Hmm, what happened to respecting the dead?

HIDEYO: I'm not insulting him! I'm just proposing a theory.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Haruto's Notes-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

Shiori nodded her head sadly. "I think Hideyo's onto something, especially considering what we found under Haruto's mattress." Everyone who had not seen the notes started at the photo of the mess of papers.

"...He was trying furiously to find a way off the island," said Seihiko, somberly.

"Or he was planning how to take over the place," Take quipped, "Either way, he was seriously busy doing something."

"And a lot of it is scribbled out, which suggests he was getting frustrated," Isao added, "If he thought that the motive would tempt someone before he could get us out, well…I don't think I'd blame him."

As the other students nodded or tilted their heads in thought, Shiori contemplated voicing her theory. _I could be wrong, but if it's true, it changes the whole context of the case._ She stole a glance at Mr. Saiki. He sat alert on his stool, looking between the students and the Monopad on his lap. His face looked a bit troubled. Then he saw her gaze, and he gave her a small thumbs up. 'You're doing great!' he mouthed to her.

She was brought back to the discussion when Homura declared loudly, "Now I get it! So the killer waited in the bushes for someone to kill, and then jumped out to attack Haruto when he passed by! Haruto took out his knife to defend himself, but was subdued and eventually killed."

"If that were the case," said Akiko, "That'd be one hell of a coincidence, just happening to have Haruto pass the pond when the killer was hiding there."

"Honestly, that's too much of a coincidence for me," said Gorou.

"I concurrate, no, er...that is, I agree," Karen chimed in, "In true mysteries such…precipitous happenstances are rare."

Gorou gave Karen a blank look. "I mean, sure, if you want to be pretentious about it. But what I really meant is that if someone were really going to just lay in wait to kill someone, there are better places to do it."

"There are at least…more well travelled areas," Kenji pointed out.

"Maybe the killer just wanted to make sure there'd be no witnesses," suggested Kokoa, "So they picked a less well traveled spot."

"Wait!" shouted Shiori. Everyone turned to her. She gulped. _It's now or never._ "I don't think Haruto and the culprit running into each other at the pond was a coincidence. It was on purpose."

"Really?" asked Rika, "But how would it be on purpose?"

Shiori could feel herself sweating. _I have evidence that shows the meeting wasn't a coincidence; I just need to find it._

* * *

Select Evidence: Mysterious Note

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

Shiori held up the mysterious note. "I found this in the bushes by the pond."

The note appeared on the screen. "'Listen; I've found something that could help us all escape, but I can't make it work by myself. I need your help to solve this puzzle and save everyone. Meet me at the pond tonight at 8:30,'" read Seihiko.

"...8:30 is right in the time range for the time of death," Remy pointed out.

Isao gave Shiori a quick smile. "Good catch Shiori. With all of the other stuff we'd been discussing, I'd forgotten about the note."

"Me too!" Hideyo immediately added.

"This means that Haruto and the killer meeting was intentional," said Shiori, "Someone set it up. They both had weapons, so it makes sense that a fight would break out. There's even a notch in the bat, like Haruto tried to use the knife on the culprit but they blocked the strike with the bat." A zoomed in picture of the bat showed the notch.

"Wait, wait," said Kashie, "You're…it sounds like you're implying Haruto attacked his killer. Surely…surely, even if they were fighting, he just, uh, defended himself?"

Shiori paused, but then answered. "Honestly…I think Haruto is the one who set this up."

" _You're jumping to conclusions!_ " shouted Kokoa, slamming her hand down on her podium.

Shiori nearly jumped out of her skin, "Um, Kokoa, just a minute," she said, but Kokoa cut her off.

"The real answer is so obvious now, you're just making things overly complicated. This isn't some mystery novel you're writing!" Kokoa flipped a bit of her hair over her shoulder.

 _She isn't letting me get a word in!_ Shiori clenched her fists. _I'll hear what she has to say, but I'm pretty sure I'm right._

* * *

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

START!

Truth Blades: Haruto's Notes | Haruto's Puzzle Book | Remy's Photos (Before Show)

KOKOA: Haruto is clearly the one who received the note!

SLASH!

KOKOA: The culprit wanted to lure him to a secluded place…

SLASH!

KOKOA: …in order to kill him without any witnesses.

SLASH!

KOKOA: And their plan was successful!

ADVANCE!

SHIORI: I understand that seems most likely because Haruto ended up being killed…

SHIORI: …but it is still possible that Haruto made the plan and his target overpowered him!

KOKOA: Possible, but do you have proof?

SLASH!

KOKOA: All you can say for sure is that their weapons met.

SLASH!

KOKOA: Which easily could have happened in the struggle the killer started!

SLASH!

KOKOA: Until you can show me _evidence Haruto set this up_ …

SLASH!

KOKOA: …You can't go implying he wanted to kill someone!

Truth Blade: Haruto's Puzzle Book

SHIORI: I'll cut through your words!

BREAK!

* * *

"I do have proof! I think the paper for the note came from this!" Shiori brought out the puzzle book she'd pocketed earlier. "We found this under Haruto's mattress with the notes. Look at the back!" She opened the back to the book.

"The last pages were torn out?" asked Kenji.

"That note has a torn edge," Gorou said in realization, "Do they match up?"

Shiori carefully held up the note to the torn stubs; the second stub matched up. Kokoa raised her eyebrows in shock. Biting her lip, she gave a small sharp nod and stepped back, conceding.

Hideyo clapped her hands a bit. "Yes yes! Well done Shiori. Honestly, besides the book, the note also literally has the word 'puzzle' in it; it's sort of easy to assume Haruto wrote it."

"Isn't that…a bit on the nose?" wondered Kashie.

"Frankly, I wouldn't put it past that guy," said Akiko, shrugging, "He called basically everything a puzzle."

Rika put her pointer fingers on her temples and scrunched her eyes shut, as if concentrating her hard. "So…Haruto wrote a note to someone to get them to meet him at the pond. They came, but Haruto attacked them with the knife. Then they used a bat to kill him instead?"

"Wait, didn't the bear girl have a bat earlier?" asked Take, turning to Kashie.

All eyes turned to Kashie and she squeaked. "That…was a while ago! I, I put the bat back uh, the day before yesterday. And there are um, a bunch of bats in the shed. It could have been anyone…"

"And anyway," Isao interjected, a bit of edge to his voice, "Kashie was at the mess hall running the talent show when the crime took place."

"She was on stage between every act," Shiori said, "Even if she had snuck out, there wouldn't have been time for her to get back from the pond in time for the next act."

"But someone else could have snuck out of the show?" asked Gorou.

Shiori balked. _Could someone have…? Because of the time of death I didn't even consider…_

"Yeah…" Remy admitted, "I might have been near the door but…I wasn't paying attention."

"Geez, that makes things more complicated," grumbled Akiko.

Kashie perked up and glanced a bit around Ikeda, as if waiting for someone further down the circle to speak, but after a moment she deflated and curled back into herself. Before Shiori could think about what this could mean, the conversation moved on.

"Perhaps we should try a different angle," suggested Karen, "There are other factors to consider before we get to opportunity."

Take grinned and slammed his hand down in his podium. "Aw hell yeah! Are we finally moving on from figuring out boring set up stuff to the actual culprit? Time to get some real accusing done!"

 _Do we know enough about the series of events to accuse someone?_ wondered Shiori. _Let's see what people are thinking…_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Remy's Photos (Before Show) | Remy's Photos (During Show) | Bloody Footprints | Ikeda's Account

TAKE: Alright! Time to get accusing!

TAKE: If it ain't bear skin girl, who is it?

KENJI: _Anyone could have gotten the bat_ …

KENJI: So that isn't super helpful…

ISAO: What else do we know it true about the culprit?

RIKA: They're _a big meanie!_

IKEDA: …Oh my, what a revelation.

KAREN: Hey! It's...non-eloquent, but probably true!

AKIKO: They're probably _big and strong._

AKIKO: If they were able to pull the body up the flagpole and all.

TAKE: Seriously, is that all we have?

TAKE: We must suck at this.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Bloody Footprints-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Akiko, I actually...don't think the person who hung up Haruto was all that big," said Shiori, "We found some bloody footprints at the scene, and they probably belong to whoever brought the body, but look." Everyone examined the photo of the prints on the monitor. "See how small the prints are? That suggests a smaller person, right?"

Akiko shook her head. "But a shorty wouldn't be strong enough to pull the body up."

"Hey!" shouted Rika, "I may be short, but I'm plenty strong!"

"So you're saying you could have pulled him up?" asked Ikeda.

Rika froze, her mouth opening and closing. Finally she spoke. "No! No no no! I didn't kill him! I didn't even see him until we…you know!"

"Considering her…reaction to seeing the body," Karen said slowly, "I doubt she could have killed him."

Ikeda tilted his head. "Hmm, interesting that you're defending her when a day ago you were telling her to leave you alone. Besides, it's easy to fake a faint. Or perhaps she simply feels guilty about it. The injuries do suggest the culprit mostly attacked out of self-defense."

"And the footprints do look like they came from boots," Hideyo pointed out quietly. "You're one the only people who's both small and wears boots…"

Isao frowned at Hideyo, then looked to Shiori with sad eyes, but Shiori could not look away from Rika, who stood trembling and shaking her head again and again.

"I didn't!" Rika cried, choking slightly on her words. "I swear! Please, please, I didn't kill him!"

Shiori felt her heart tug in her chest as Rika spoke, but her thoughts were swirling. _She looks so scared! But she has the boots, and she's strong enough to do it…She was at the show! But she could have snuck out…Can I prove it wasn't her? Come on, there's gotta be something!_

However, before Shiori could speak up, someone else beat her to it.

"Everyone stop," said Gorou. He gulped, but straightened himself up. "The footprints are mine. I moved Haruto's body."

Everyone froze. For a moment, the whole room seemed to be stuck in time. Strangely, it was Monokuma who broke the silence. "What!? Come on, you're just gonna admit it? I didn't even get to explain how I specially designed the pulley on the flagpole so it would be easier for any of you wimpy types to hang bodies from it! You're ruining all the fun!"

Mr. Saiki looked up at Monokuma incredulously. "You seriously designed a special flagpole just so it'd be a more accessible tool for murder?"

"I thought getting the body down seemed too easy..." muttered Ikeda.

"Well yeah!" Monokuma replied, "The normal rope systems for flags can barely be called pulleys! But the image of a body hanging from the camp flagpole was too perfect! So, I adjusted it. Now even the wimpiest of you campers, like Gorou here, can use it to amazing dramatic effect!"

Gorou slammed his hands down on his podium and shouted, "Dramatic effect?! Seriously, are you so wrapped up in the idea that this is just a game that you set up our prison in stupid ways for the tiny chance that it'll look 'cool'? Bullshit! And furthermore, I'm not going to let us get on the wrong track by accusing someone innocent just so we can have a dramatic reveal in five minutes! No! Fuck you, you stupid delusional excuse for a stuffed bear!"

Gasps of surprise at Gorou's outburst swept around the room, and Monokuma put his paw over his chest in mock dismay. "Well! I have never been so disrespected! That's a lie, I have, but this time really hurt! I may just have to send you to Mr. Saiki for that!" Mr. Saiki nearly fell off his stool in shock, but Monokuma continued, his voice calm again, "That is, if you all manage to survive the trial! Upupupu!"

"Of course we'll survive the trial!" said Homura.

"Yes yes!" said Hideyo, then she smiled broadly. "In fact, now we know who the culprit is!"

Shiori whipped her head to look at Hideyo. "What? Hideyo, what do you mean?"

Gorou ran his hands down his face, "Oh my god, of course. This is why I didn't admit to this earlier…"

Shiori put it together. "Wait…Hideyo, you think…?"

Hideyo flipped her hair over her shoulder and continued smiling. "But I'm thankful you did admit it, Gorou! See, it means you still have some sort of morals left, since you didn't let us to convict Rika, which would have lead to all of us dying! I mean, I was almost convinced it was her, but then you spoke up! It means that, deep down, you feel guilty for killing Haruto."

"But I didn't kill him!" Gorou snapped.

Everyone immediately looks at him. Shiori feels a bit of sweat on the back of her neck.

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Kokoa's Account | Bloody Knife | Haruto's Puzzle Book | Blood on Body's Hand

GOROU: I was not the one who killed Haurto!

TAKE: Uh, dude, you just admitted to moving the body.

GOROU: That does _not necessarily mean I killed him!_

AKIKO: Then what the hell does it mean!?

HIDEYO: Oh Gorou, I thought you were better than this…

GOROU: Shut up and let me explain!

GOROU: _I_ _went to the pond a bit after nighttime…_

GOROU: …And saw Haruto's body there. No one else.

GOROU: I decided to _move the body…_

GOROU: So when the culprit came back they couldn't mess with it!

IKEDA: And yet, you have no proof to show any of this.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Kokoa's Account-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

"Wait, Kokoa, didn't you say you saw someone heading to the pond around nighttime?" Shiori blurted out.

Kokoa started, then said, "Yes, I did…I was talking with Karen in our cabin, and then when I went out to the restroom, I saw someone heading towards the pond. I couldn't see them clearly, but now that I think about it, they did look to be on the shorter side." She looked around the group, a sharp look in her eye. "And by the way, Karen and I were together during the designated window for the time of death. We have alibis."

"I can…confirm we were together," said Karen, adjusting her glasses.

Take clapped his hands slowly. "Wow! We can prove exactly one thing you said is true! Things are looking great for you!"

"Shut up!" snapped Gorou.

"But why move the body?" Ikeda asked, pointing an accusatory finger at Gorou, "If you truly stumbled upon the body like you say, you not go get someone else? Sound the alarm?"

"How could I know whoever I got wasn't the killer?" Gorou replied harshly, "If they knew I found the body, they might have killed me too! The only person it really couldn't have been was Mr. Saiki, since he has no incentive to kill because he's not a student. And if I went to get him, the body would be alone for too long! The culprit would have hidden it, or destroyed it!"

"Wow, you're paranoid," said Akiko, shaking her head, "What a lame excuse. 'The culprit was gonna hide the body, so I had to hang it up on the fucking flagpole.' What a joke."

Suddenly, Shiori remembered something she'd seen and said, "Wait…there's been this thing at the pond that was bugging me, but if Gorou is right, and the culprit was gonna hide the body somewhere else, it might make sense."

"Shiori, what are you talking about?" said Hideyo, voice a bit higher than usual. She tugged on her sleeves. "There's nothing at the pond that indicates that, no no."

 _Accept there is!_ thought Shiori.

* * *

Select Evidence: Pile of Rocks

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

"Hideyo, I don't know if you saw this, but I was looking at the truth bullets we found, and the pile of rocks Isao and Mr. Saiki found by the pond is really suspicious." Shiori gulped. _This is a stretch but…I even if it's not what really happened, it could back up what Gorou says._ "So, uh, this pile of rocks? At first it's not too suspicious, but look! You can see from the wet and the dirt that they were moved recently, and that got me thinking, why would someone move these rocks? And then I remembered this one uh, movie I saw? Where someone wrapped up a body and then used rocks to make the body sink. So that might have been what made Gorou think the culprit was gonna move the body."

Gorou looked at Shiori in puzzlement. "Yeah…that was what I thought. And since the _stupid bear_ didn't fully explain the procedures of this stuff leading up the trial, I had no idea what would happen if the body wasn't found. I didn't want to risk it."

"What would have happened is that there wouldn't have been a trial!" said Monokuma, pouting. "Discovering the body triggers the whole thing! So honestly, to any future killers, don't bother! If you off someone but there's no trial, you won't have a chance to escape! Or do bother; I can't tell you what to do, upupu!"

"Can you at least be consistent?" groaned Mr. Saiki.

"Nope! One of my consistent character traits is that I'm inconsistent!"

Mr. Saiki put his head in his hands. "That makes no sense! Then again, nothing about you makes sense, so why am I surprised?"

"Okay, but that whole scenario playing out exactly like you said is a major stretch," said Kokoa.

Ikeda smirked. "It's possible Gorou simply saw the rocks when he committed the crime and is using them now as an excuse to divert suspicion."

Isao frowned, but then carefully said, "I don't know if this is uh, important, but not all of the rocks that were moved were in the pile. Some were sort of beside it, like they were dropped?"

"See! That's also suspicious!" said Shiori, her voice growing louder in her excitement, "If the rocks were piled for some unrelated reason, why aren't they all in the pile?"

"This is all nonsense!" said Hideyo,

Shiori continued, undaunted. "I can tell you why!"

* * *

THINKING TIME

Why are some of the rocks out of the pile?

A: Because they fell off the pile

B: Because the culprit left them as a trail

 _[C: Because the culprit had to leave before finishing the pile]_

SHIORI: This is the answer!

* * *

"It's because when the culprit was making the pile, they suddenly stopped before finishing it!" Shiori declared, "Maybe they realized they needed to go somewhere else to avoid being seen as suspicious!"

"Like…the talent show?" suggested Kenji. "Since it was uh, dark, and hard to tell if people were coming in or out…maybe they wanted to use that as an alibi?"

"Well, I never went to that talent show thing," said Gorou.

"Can confirm!" said Seihiko.

Everyone else who was at the talent show nodded as well, although Akiko was still frowning. "This is all still kind of a stretch. Yeah, the thing with rocks and how they're piled is weird, but I don't think it's enough to say for sure that it wasn't Gorou."

"But we also don't have anything that clearly ties him to the actual murder!" Shiori countered. "Or to anything besides moving the body."

Kenji began shifting his feet awkwardly, glancing at Gorou nervously. Gorou eyed him, raised an eyebrow, then snapped, "Dang it, if you're gonna say something, just do it! I know you were watching me during the investigation."

Kenji gulped. "Um…What was that uh, paper you were looking at? While we were in your cabin?"

Shiori saw Mr. Saiki nod out of the corner of her eye, so she pressed as well. "Gorou, I really don't know for sure how exactly you're involved in this, but I want to believe you. If you keep hiding things, I can't help you."

Gorou pursed his lips, then threw up his hands in exasperation. "Fine! But you better stick up for me! It was this!" He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a paper, which he unfolded and read out loud in a harsh shout. "'Listen; I've found something that could help us all escape, but I can't make it work alone. I need your help to solve this puzzle and save everyone. Meet me at the pond tonight at nighttime.' It's another damn note from Haruto! It's why I went to the pond at nighttime. Happy?"

"Wow, you are seriously digging your own grave here," said Akiko, her tone somewhere between perplexed and concerned.

"Wait wait, so there were _two_ notes?" asked Homura.

"None of this is helping me understand what's going on…" muttered Rika, who was fiddling with her fingers.

"And of course, I can't prove I really received _this_ note rather than the other one," said Gorou, voicing rising again. This time, Shiori thought she caught an edge of panic in his tone. "No way to know I didn't just steal this note from under Haruto's bed, or fake it, or anything! Might as well start the voting, right? Then we'll all fucking die! Great! Perfect!"

Gorou's nihilism shocked Shiori. For a moment she felt her throat tighten up, unsure of how to proceed. _Can we really prove it wasn't Gorou? I want to stick with him, but what if I'm wrong? God, if I'm wrong we're all gonna—_ Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see the hand belonged to Isao. He smiled slightly and gave a firm nod. 'You can do this,' the look said.

Shiori straightened back up."That's enough!" she shouted. She turned to Gorou. "We are not gonna vote yet. I won't let us! There's still too much stuff to go over to say for sure that you're the culprit."

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Baseball Bat | Ikeda's Account | Black Cloth | Remy's Photos (During Show)

TAKE: I mean, what is there to discuss?

TAKE: Gorou's our guy; _He moved the body!_

KASHIE: I still…don't really know, uh, why Gorou wanted to move the body…?

GOROU: I don't have to explain myself to you!

AKIKO: You're being accused of freaking murder!

AKIKO: _Yes, you need to explain!_

GOROU: It isn't relevant!

IKEDA: …Are you ashamed of your reasoning? That you acted in panic?

IKEDA: You know, _I have evidence that could acquit you._

IKEDA: If you tell me.

GOROU: …damn it…

-Truth Bullet Selected: Ikeda's Account-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

Shiori frowned. "Ikeda, coercing Gorou into talking isn't going to be helpful! And withholding information could be detrimental! I'll present the evidence myself." Shiori took a breath, calming herself, before she continued. "Everyone, Ikeda examined Haruto's body during the investigation, and I think we can take him at word that this is accurate, considering his talent. He said that the killing blow to the side of Haruto's head was a downwards diagonal strike! And we know the killer was using the bat, so it was sort of like this…"

She started to mime the motion, but then Monokuma cleared his throat. "I can give a clearer visual demonstration!" On the screen a rough animation showing a simple silhouette making the swing appeared.

Shiori paused in confusion, then said, "Uh, thanks for the uh…visualization? Anyway, so think about the logistics of this! In order for the bat to hit at the correct angle…" Another _shorter_ silhouette representing Haruto appeared beside the first, being hit by the bat. "...The culprit had to be taller than Haruto! And Gorou is shorter!" The swinging silhouette shrunk, and the bat no longer hit at the correct angle.

"...Would you look at that," said Remy, "It's like we're in a cop show…We have digital crime recreation."

"Sorry it's so rudimentary," said Monokuma, "Anything more intense than this would have really dug into the budget."

"What budget…?" Mr. Saiki said to himself.

"And there is no way for someone shorter to have made the correct kind of wound with the bat?" asked Homura, "No uh, other set of positions?"

"Maybe if Haruto was bent over?" suggested Kokoa.

"It would be close, but not quite the exact angle necessary," said Ikeda, finally speaking up. His arms were crossed, and although his face remained as neutral as ever, Shiori thought she sensed something off about him. _I mean, I did interrupt his interrogation of Gorou; that'd be upsetting. But dude, don't withhold this stuff! And Gorou's exact motivation isn't even relevant…_

Take rolled his eyes. "Dude, you may know your stuff, but can you seriously tell that sorta detailed stuff just from looking?"

"It would be difficult to be completely sure without proper equipment," Seihiko mentioned.

"I agree," said Kokoa, "While I appreciate your thoughts, Ikeda, there is still a high probability that Gorou is the culprit."

"And it would be simpler," Homura added, although she seemed a bit unsure, "Isn't there some saying about the simplest explanation being the right one?"

"Occam's razor," said Remy, "But I'm…not sure this is the right time to invoke that…"

"However!" Hideyo interjected, gripping the edges of her podium, "This is not a real court, where we can only convict when we are nearly one hundred percent sure. We just need to find the most likely person! Which unfortunately is Gorou. Let's just vote."

"But, uh, if we get this wrong…" said Kashie, wringing her hands, "We will all die…so we, we really should be as sure as we can be…"

"There's still so much stuff I don't get yet!" said Rika, "I don't wanna vote until I understand things!"

"We'd be here all day if we waited for you to understand everything," muttered Kenji.

Karen eyed Kenji. "She was unconscious for most of the investigation; her confusion is …not inordinate."

"There really is too much to this case we haven't gone over," said Isao, "We can't vote now."

"Agreed," said Ikeda.

"Who all thinks we shouldn't vote yet?" asked Shiori as she raised up her own hand. Gorou's hand immediately went up. Isao, Kashie, Ikeda, and Rika also raised their hands. After a moment, Karen and Remy raised theirs as well.

After a quick count, Rika said, "Yay! We're the majority!"

"By one!" Hideyo objected.

"And I don't think the guy who's getting accused vote should count," Akiko added.

Shiori frowned, "Either way, we're basically split in half..."

Suddenly Monokuma's voice rang as he shouted, "Split?! And wouldn't you know it, there's actually codified way to settle such things!" As he spoke, simple LED lights on the fronts of the podiums; red for those who wanted to vote, and blue for those who did not. "It's time for our very first Debate Scrum! Facing off against each other to decide your fate! Upupu! Things are really heating up now!"

* * *

 _Sorry for a bit of a cliffhanger, but I really wanted to start the next part with the Debate Scrum, so here's where we end the first part of the trial! I really hope this isn't too hard to follow and has at least somewhat okay logic; I really did try to take my time to make sure everything's established and everyone's thought process makes sense, although the reasons behind some people's behavior will remain a mystery until next time. Also, because Reijirou can't really participate in the trial, we are going to remain with Shiori until the trial is done. I'd love to give you all of Reijirou's thoughts on the proceedings, but I think structurally it wouldn't work as well. Either way, until next chapter!_

 ** _Edit: So as a wonderful review brought to my attention, I can't count. (Actually I was just going back and forth on a few character's side, then didn't realize Shiori's side had more). Sorry guys! So I edited just a tiny bit of the ending of the chapter so it makes sense._**


	10. Chapter 1 (part 6)

Truth Bullets:

 _Monokuma File #1: The victim is Haruto Hanko, the Penultimate Puzzle Master. The time of death was between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM last night. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the side of the head. The body also has various other wounds, inflicted both pre- and post-mortem. All of the wounds were caused by the same object._

 _Ikeda's Analysis: The murder weapon was a long, round ended blunt object. The killing blow to the side of the head was made with a downward diagonal blow, coming down at an angle to the side of head._

 _Blood on Body's Hand: The inside of Haruto's right hand has blood on it, particularly the palm and thumb._

 _Remy's Pictures (Before Show): A series of pictures Remy took before the talent show. They include: Hideyo and Mr. Saiki tying up the backdrop, Shiori and Isao at the light board, Take, Homura, and Seihiko eating before the show._

 _Remy's Pictures (During Show): A series of pictures Remy took during the talent show. They include: Kashie introducing the show, Rika/Seihiko/Homura/Isao/Shiori/Take/Akiko during each of their talents. In the background of one of the picture's of Homura's act you can see the silhouette of a person holding a crumbled mass in the backstage door, which no longer has the cloth covering it._

 _Black Cloth: A fairly large black cloth was left near the side of the nature center. It seems to have dried blood on it. Mr. Saiki believes it is the cloth that previously covered the doorway in the backstage area. It was present before the talent show began._

 _Bloody Footprints: There are small, slightly bloody footprints around the flagpole. The prints look like they came from boots._

 _Bloody Drag Marks: There are somewhat bloody drag marks on the path leading up to the flagpole. They lead to the pond._

 _Signs of Struggle: There are signs on a struggle on the ponds banks, including footprints, torn up grass, and some blood; it appears that some of the blood has been washed away by water._

 _Baseball Bat: A baseball bat from the sports shed was found floating in the pond. It has a small notch in it._

 _Bloody Knife: A slightly bloody kitchen knife left in the bushes by the pond._

 _Pile of Rocks: A pile of largish rocks by the pond, near the signs of struggle. It looks like the rocks were moved to that position recently, and some rocks are next to the pile instead of in it._

 _Mysterious Note: A crumpled note found at the pond, written on paper with one edge torn. It reads "Listen; I've found something that could help us all escape, but I can't make it work by myself. I need your help to solve this puzzle and save everyone. Meet me at the pond tonight at 8:30."_

 _Kokoa's Account: She and Karen were in the cabin most of the evening. After nighttime, she went to use the bathroom and saw someone heading towards the pond/sports equipment shed._

 _Haruto's Notes: Underneath the mattress of Haruto's bed were various notes, maps, drawings, and diagrams. Besides the maps and names, most of it is indecipherable. Some of the notes have been torn up, or had large sections scribbled out._

 _Haruto's Puzzle Book: Haruto's puzzle book, left in his cabin under his mattress, has it's final two pages torn out._

* * *

SPLIT OPINION

WE SHOULD VOTE FOR GOROU NOW (RED SIDE):

Akiko, Kenji, Take, Seihiko, Kokoa, Homura, Hideyo

WE SHOULD NOT VOTE NOW (BLUE SIDE):

Shiori, Isao, Rika, Karen, Ikeda, Remy, Kashie, Gorou

DEBATE SCRUM START!

AKIKO: Gorou moved Haruto's body to the flag pole!

TAKE: If he isn't lying, Gorou should have gotten help when he found the body.

SEIHIKO: Haruto did send Gorou a note to meet at the pond.

KOKOA: Gorou could have used the bat to defend himself, killing Haruto by accident.

HIDEYO: We have enough evidence; we should vote now!

SHIORI: The evidence on Gorou is shaky; There are too many unknowns to _vote_ now!

IKEDA: Gorou is too short to have caused the killing blow with the _bat_.

ISAO: But Gorou admitted to moving the _body_.

KAREN: _Gorou_ suspected the culprit would tamper with the scene if he left it alone.

REMY: But there were two _notes_ …and Gorou's had the wrong time.

AKIKO: Gorou moved Haruto's _body_ to the flag pole!

ISAO: But Gorou admitted to moving the _body_.

TAKE: If he isn't lying, _Gorou_ should have gotten help when he found the body.

KAREN: _Gorou_ suspected the culprit would tamper with the scene if he left it alone.

SEIHIKO: Haruto did send Gorou a _note_ to meet at the pond.

REMY: But there were two _notes_ …and Gorou's had the wrong time.

KOKOA: Gorou could have used to _bat_ to defend himself, killing Haruto by accident.

IKEDA: Gorou is too short to have caused the killing blow with the _bat_.

HIDEYO: We have enough evidence; we should _vote_ now!

SHIORI: The evidence on Gorou is shaky; There are too many unknowns to _vote_ now!

BLUE SIDE: THIS IS OUR ANSWER!

BREAK!

* * *

"Please everyone," Shiori begged, "I…I know there is evidence that it could have been Gorou, but there are definitely holes, and more evidence I want to go over. Just let us discuss a few more things. Please."

After a moment, Seihiko, Homura, and Kenji all nodded. Take shrugged and said, "Hey, more time to prove it's him."

Akiko, meanwhile, just threw up her hands. "You know what? Sure, Bubbly. You seem like you know what you're talking about."

"I do suppose thoroughness is warranted in this situation," added Kokoa.

Hideyo looked around the circle, eyebrows furrowed, but then gave a slight sigh. "Okay," she said, relenting, "I guess…I did get carried away. I'm sorry about that, Shiori. But can we agree that Gorou is still a suspect?"

"That's fair," Gorou muttered.

Shiori bit her lip, then nodded. "Okay, that's fine."

"If we're gonna keep talking, I…do have a question," said Kenji, "About the notes…Why two?"

"Puzzle man wanted a back-up," said Akiko, "If the first person didn't show he'd get a second chance. And if he did kill the first person there was enough time in between for him to hightail it."

 _That does make sense,_ Shiori thought. "Now, there's something we discussed earlier we need to get back to, because we didn't really finish talking about it."

"What's that?" asked Homura.

"The black cloth Gorou used to move the body," said Shiori, "We need to figure out why it was there and where it came from." _I feel like I know, but just to be sure…_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Black Cloth | Baseball Bat | Remy's Photos (Before Show) | Remy's Photo's (During Show)

GOROU: The black cloth was _already at the pond_ when I found Haruto.

GOROU: I don't know where it came from.

KOKOA: Assuming you're not the killer…

KOKOA: …that means either _Haruto or the culprit brought it._

HOMURA: The culprit could have used it as a disguise or something…

KASHIE: Are there uh, any clues about where the cloth came from?

ISAO: It looks kinda like _a masking curtain._

RIKA: Huh? What's that?

ISAO: A cloth used to block light or activity in the backstage of a theatre.

RIKA: Wow! I never knew theaters had such fancy words for things!

Truth Bullet Selected: Black Cloth

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

"Isao, that's it!" cried Shiori, "It's the masking curtain from backstage!"

"Really?" asked Isao, "I didn't know the stage had one."

"Mr. Saiki confirmed it; he saw a cloth covering that door out of backstage a few days ago, but now it's gone," Shiori explained.

Mr Saiki glanced at Monokuma before commenting. "I honestly suspected that was where the cloth came from as soon as I realized what size it was; I took Shiori backstage to check."

"Oh, taking a student aside alone?" Take jeered, "Ain't that a little suspicious."

Mr. Saiki's mouth was left gaping as Shiori's face scrunched up in disgust. "Ew, God no! Nothing happened! Mr. Saiki is actually pretty cool guys, in case you were _still_ suspicious of him for some reason."

"Okay, just because he wasn't a creep doesn't mean the fact that he's here isn't suspicious as hell!" Gorou objected.

"Can we…get back on track?" asked Kenji.

Karen adjusted her glasses and said, "That means…the personage who brought the cloth must have gone to the backstage, and therefore the mess hall, to get it."

"That could still be Haruto or the culprit," said Seihiko, dejected.

"If we could figure out when the cloth was taken," suggested Kokoa, "We can narrow down who could have taken it."

"But there's no way to do that," said Hideyo, "Unless Monokuma would let us look at his security footage."

"Well I ain't doing that!" Monokuma crowed. "For one thing, that'd be cheating, and for another, I don't want you kids anywhere near my stuff."

"Except there is a way to know!" declared Shiori.

* * *

Select Evidence: Remy's Photos (During Show)

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

"Remy took photos before and during the talent show! Remy, can you pass them out now?" He nodded and did so quickly as Shiori continued. "There's a photo from during Homura's act where you can see backstage, and in the doorway out you can see the silhouette of someone holding something."

Homura gasped. "Woah! I totally didn't notice that while I was doing my thing!"

"The point of a masking curtain is to block light," Isao said, "So the fact that the light is shining through…"

"I bet that what that person is holding _is_ the curtain!" Shiori finished.

"So that means that the curtain was removed from backstage during the show," said Ikeda.

"Which rules out Kokoa and myself," added Karen, "Since we were in our cabin during the talent show."

Seihiko frowned. "I don't think we were keeping super close track of the time during the show though, so we just know that it was sort of near the beginning, since Homura went third."

Mr. Saiki cleared his throat and said, "The average length of the performances was about ten minutes. Some, like Rika and Shiori's, were longer, while your and Isao's were shorter. I'm fairly certain Homura's performance began no later than 8:20."

"Wait, so…Haruto was hiding in the bushes waiting for the culprit, right?" Rika countered. "I got that right? A cloth like that wouldn't be good for hiding in a bush."

Kenji's eyes widened, a bit impressed. "That's…definitely true. And if he went to the mess hall so close to the meeting time, he would have risked missing his target."

Rika's eyes lit up. "I got a thing right! Haruto wasn't the one who brought the cloth!"

Shiori caught Karen giving Rika a small smile before Karen said, "So, who does that leave as possible people who took the curtain, and thusly could be our culprit?"

"Gorou, of course," said Hideyo, "Remy admitted he wasn't watching the door, so he could have snuck in and back out again."

"Yeah?" said Gorou, "And you don't think it's more likely that one of the people _already_ at the talent show took it?"

Homura looked puzzled, then gave a dramatic sigh and slumped over her podium. "Aw geez, this whole time I thought I had a perfect alibi, and now everyone at the show is a suspect."

Take rubbed his hands together and grinned. "And if it was someone at the show, that'd explain why the culprit stopped their plan to hide the body in the pond; they didn't know when it would end and people would see they were gone, or if they'd miss their performance."

"We can eliminate Kashie, because she came back on stage between every act, Homura because she was one stage when the cloth was taken, and Isao, because his act was basically right at 8:30," said Shiori, biting her lip. _Geez, I'm a suspect…But who at the show could have done it…? No one missed their performances, so they must have timed it perfectly…_

"Don't forget Remy, since he has pictures of all the acts," added Kokoa.

Kashie glanced around the circle and cleared her throat several times, trying to catch everyone's attention. Finally Akiko said, "Whatever you wanna say Scaredy Bear, just spit it out!"

Kashie waved her hands in panic. "No! It's fine…I bet it's not important…and I don't want to cause trouble…"

Shiori contained a sigh but gave Kashie a comforting look. "Kashie, right now, anything could be important. I promise it won't be a trouble."

"But…I might...be implicating someone…" Kashie fiddled with the sleeves her bear coat.

"That makes it even more important!" said Akiko.

Take leaned over his podium to look at Kashie. "Hey, if it'll make you feel better, I promise I'll beat the crap out of anyone who gives you shit about it."

"Again! Can we _not_ let this turn into a brawl?" said Mr. Saiki.

Take shrugged. "Fine! I'll just intimidate them and steal all their stuff."

Mr. Saiki sighed. "Do you have to make everything about stealing?"

Kashie swallowed, but finally drew herself up. "I, I, well it's just that, um, Hideyo!"

Hideyo whipped around to look at Kashie. "What? What about me?!"

"You…you uh…I only noticed after Homura finished her act but uh, you weren't backstage after that?" Kashie ducked her head so her hood covered her eyes.

Akiko's mouth dropped open and she brought a hand to her head. "Of course! When Scaredy Bear was doing the closing speech thing no one else was around to close the curtain! I had to do it!"

Shiori couldn't believe what she was hearing. _She…she wasn't there? Why…?_

Ikeda chuckled. "Oh my, that does seem suspicious."

Hideyo's face went red. "Shut up! I was feeling sick, okay? You're not gonna try and pin this on me because I wasn't feeling well?"

"That excuse is worse than mine!" shouted Gorou, "Were you pushing so hard to vote for me so I could be your scapegoat?!"

"The same could be said of you right now!" Hideyo retorted, "Unless there's more evidence that could point to a certain person as the culprit, I'm just one suspect out of what, six? Seven if you count Ikeda, since his whereabouts before he showed up at the end of the show can't be confirmed. So don't you go accusing me of something so, so horrible! No no!"

 _More evidence that could lead to the culprit,_ thought Shiori, _There must be something we're missing..._

* * *

NONSTOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Blood on Haruto's Hand | Mysterious Note | Haruto's Puzzle Book | Monokuma File #1

IKEDA: Alright, Miss Painter, you want more evidence?

IKEDA: Then we'll discuss what else we know for sure about the culprit.

RIKA: You said _they had to_ _be tall,_ right?

REMY: Several of the suspects at the show are taller than Haruto was.

KOKOA: Not super helpful on it's own then; what about the crime scene?

ISAO: _Just the signs of struggle and the rocks_ …

HOMURA: The culprit did most of the fighting, right?

HOMURA: We don't even know if _Haruto got a real hit in!_

TAKE: He was definitely a wimp, not gonna lie.

GOROU: Come on, there's got to be more than that!

Truth Bullet Selected: Blood on Haruto's Hand

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Wait Homura, I think there is evidence that Haruto was able to injure the culprit," said Shiori. "When I examined Haruto's body, I found some blood on his right hand."

"Okay, so what?" asked Take, "Haruto had tons of blood on him; it could have just come from him trying to stop the bleeding. That's like, an instinctual thing."

"And a smart thing to do," added Mr. Saiki, "Seriously, slowing the bleeding of a wound can save your life."

Monokuma gave a dramatic sigh. "Geez, I know you're a mother hen type but come on! Upupupu, besides, stopping the bleeding won't help you if the murderer is still around. Here's a better piece of advice; if you're bleeding out, kill the culprit you before you die! Then we can have some proper action!"

"Or!" Mr. Saiki interrupted, "You could just run away! Also an option!"

"Hmm, not as action packed, but definitely adds to the suspense. Plus then we're less likely to deal with a situation where we don't have a culprit still alive at the trial. That's never fun."

"When is any of this fun!?" Gorou asked incredulously.

"Monokuma and Mr. Saiki got us off topic again…" said Remy.

Mr. Saiki slowly closed his mouth and gave a small gesture back to the group that Shiori took to mean, 'Sorry, go ahead.'

Shiori shook her head. "Okay, back to what I was saying. Look at exactly where the blood is; it's mostly on his thumb and palm right below the thumb. Why would the blood only be there if he was grabbing his head or shoulder or something?"

"Besides," Ikeda interjected, "We don't know if any of the injuries before the killing blow drew blood."

"And the alternative is…?" asked Gorou.

* * *

THINKING TIME

Where did the blood on Haruto's hand come from?

A: One of Haruto's wounds

 _[B: A wound on the culprit]_

C: It's not blood

* * *

"I think Haruto injured the culprit with the knife," said Shiori, "Probably on the forearms since most people bring those up to defend their face, then he tried to grab their arm and got the culprit's blood on his hand."

"But he's right handed," Karen pointed out. "He could not hold the knife and grab his…assassinator simultaneously."

"It's not like the knife was doing him much good!" chuckled Take, "If he managed to bungle something as simple as stabbing someone."

"Stabbing someone is not as easy as it seems on T.V.," Ikeda pointed out, "The human body isn't exactly as easy to pierce as you might think."

"Also…he wasn't used to fighting or anything, right?" asked Kenji.

Remy nodded. "Nothing about him gave me the impression he had done much fighting in his life."

"Maybe he lost the knife at some point in the struggle?" Isao suggested.

"Yes!" exclaimed Shiori, "That must be it, and it's supported by another piece of evidence too!"

Hideyo crossed her arms. "Which is?"

* * *

Select Evidence: Baseball Bat

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

"Remember how I pointed out that the baseball bat had a little notch in it from where the knife hit it?" Shiori looked at the picture on the Monopad again before continuing. "Maybe when the weapons met, the culprit was able to wrench the knife out of Haruto's grip while it was stuck to the bat."

"Woah, cool move!" said Homura.

"Disarming your opponent is a very effective strategy!" said Rika. "And a knife of that size and shape would be quite easy to hit away with something like a bat."

"Especially since no way Haruto actually knew how to fight with a knife or grip it correctly," added Take, "I know all there is to know about knife fights, being a bandit and all, but I tried to teach Seihiko and he nearly cut his finger off."

Seihiko frowned but muttered, "Yeah, I don't think it's too much of a stretch."

"So…all of this means…?" Remy said, trailing off.

"It means that Haruto probably injured the culprit in the fight," said Isao. "Even if the cuts weren't very deep, they wouldn't be healed by now…"

"So…we all just…just need to prove we don't have those injuries?" asked Kashie.

"That isn't fool proof," objected Kokoa, "What if someone coincidentally has similar injuries?"

"I can't think of many sorts of accidental injuries that would look like defensive cut wounds," said Akiko, "And I may not be a weird interrogator like Skull, or a freaking bandit, whatever that means outside of dumb western movies, but I've seen a lot of injuries."

Take put his hand over his heart. "Dear Lady, I am wounded! The life of a bandit if full of adventure and excitement!"

"Oh my God…" said Seihiko, putting his face in his hands.

Akiko's eyebrow twitched. "Dude, you're on thin ice. Shut up."

Ikeda gave Akiko and Take slight look, but simply said, "We can cross reference any person with injuries against everything else we know about the culprit. If there's enough overlap, we can reasonably assume we have the culprit."

" _Now wait just a minute!_ " shouted Hideyo. "I'm still not convinced that Haruto actually injured the culprit!'

"Really?" asked Kenji, "I think it makes sense…"

Shiori swallowed thickly. _Why is Hideyo being so stubborn? Even if she's scared because she's a suspect, she should know more evidence will help her? Right…? But I need to convince her…_

* * *

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

START!

Truth Blades: Baseball Bat | Bloody Knife | Bloody Drag Marks | Bloody Footprints

HIDEYO: All of this is just circumstantial!

SLASH!

HIDEYO: The blood on Haruto's hand…

SLASH!

HIDEYO: …could have come from his wounds!

SLASH!

HIDEYO: Just because it's not on his whole hand…

SLASH!

HIDEYO: …does not mean your theory is correct!

ADVANCE!

SHIORI: Okay, but just because it's circumstantial…

SHIORI: …doesn't mean we can just dismiss the theory!

HIDEYO: Theories should be based on solid evidence!

SLASH!

HIDEYO: In case you all forgot…

SLASH!

HIDEYO: ...our lives are at stake here!

SLASH!

HIDEYO: Haruto was not skilled enough with the knife…

SLASH!

HIDEYO: …to have actually _drawn blood from the culprit in the fight!_ No no!

Truth Blade Selected: Bloody Knife

SHIORI: I'll cut through your words!

BREAK!

* * *

"Hideyo, you were with me when we found the knife! You saw that it has blood on it!" Shiori cried out, confusion lacing her voice. "How else could the blood have gotten on the knife?"

Hideyo tensed up and sputtered, "I, well, it could have—"

"Wow, you are bad at this," said Ikeda, "If you really want to dissuade the group's suspicions, just show us that you have no injuries that match the defensive wounds. Plus? Forgetting a key piece of evidence you should have known? Very sloppy."

"Don't talk to me like that!" Hideyo shouted. Then she turned to Shiori. "Please, Shiori, Isao, this all just so stressful! I know I'm being weird, but I'm just scared! You're my friends; you've gotta believe me!"

Isao looked at Hideyo, mouth slightly open and eyebrows furrowed. He looked around the circle, then back to her. Slowly he closed her mouth and gave a tiny nod.

Hideyo clapped her hands. "Oh, thank you so much Isao! I knew I could believe in you!"

Now both of them turned to Shiori. She felt her guts turn to ice. _What do I do? What should I do? Do I push her? She couldn't be the culprit, right? So it wouldn't matter…? God, but could she? I don't know what to do…_

She heard the conversation continue around her as her thoughts kept spiraling.

"Look, it's only fair if all the potential suspects show they don't have any injuries," said Kokoa.

Rika immediately held up her arms. "I have nothing, see?"

Seihiko pushed up his sleeves. "Neither do I. Besides, my cloths would be ripped up."

"Same with mine," said Take as he showed his uninjured arms.

"Ditto!" Akiko added. Her arms were also free of injuries.

Remy and Kenji showed their uninjured arms in silence. In a daze, Shiori held up hers as well. The only potential suspects left were Ikeda, Gorou, and Hideyo.

Gorou glanced at the other two. He bit his lip. "I'm in the same boat as Seihiko. You can see my clothes aren't ripped or bloody or anything, so let's move on."

"But maybe you weren't wearing that jacket when you were attacked! And is that even the only jacket you have?" accused Hideyo. "Why are you refusing?!"

Something about Hideyo's comment brought Shiori out of her spiraling thoughts. "Wait…Monokuma? Did everyone only get a little bag of clothes like I did?"

Monokuma seemed startled, but he replied, "Well, yes! I didn't want to waste time or money on getting you brats a bunch of clothes, so you all have like, two or three changes of shirts and underwear and crap, but stuff like jackets and accessories don't need to be washed after every use, so only one of those kinda things!"

Akiko glanced around and then gave Monokuma a look. "Do you actually think we've done any laundry while we've been here? It's only been like, four days. Plus, we're teenagers. Honestly, I think most of us are wearing the same thing as yesterday, at least on the outside."

 _This…this changes things!_ Shiori realized, _There's something else that can prove who the culprit is! But…it also means…_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Remy's Photos (Before Show) | Remy's Photo's (During Show) | Ikeda's Account | Kokoa's Account

GOROU: See? My jacket's fine, _so_ _I_ _can't be the culprit!_

HIDEYO: Until you show us all of your clothes…

HIDEYO: …you can't prove your innocence!

KENJI: What if he… _took off his jacket_ before he was attacked _?_

KENJI: Then there'd be no damage or blood…

KASHIE: Wait…wasn't the culprit taken by surprise?

KASHIE: They…they couldn't have _known they'd be attacked_ …

IKEDA: Of course! And the laundry room is in the mess hall, which closes at night!

IKEDA: The culprit might still _have blood stains on their clothes!_

HOMURA: Who'd walk around with bloodstained clothes?

TAKE: Only someone desperate or dumb…

Truth Bullet Selected: Remy's Photos (Before Show)

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

"Ikeda, that's it!" Shiori slammed her hands down dramatically on her podium. "We can check people's clothes for bloodstains! We can compare what people have on now with Remy's photos from before the show! Then no one has to feel bad about not sharing."

"Are we sure the culprit couldn't have just changed clothes?" asked Seihiko.

"All of the suspects are wearing a jacket or something else they only have one of according to Monokuma," replied Ikeda, "And since we found the body in the morning before the mess hall opened, the culprit would not have had time to wash their clothes."

Slowly Remy's photos from before the show began to cycle on the monitor. As they passed Shiori studied them carefully, even as a horrible feeling began to grow in her gut.

"But I haven't seen any blood on anybody today!" said Rika.

Karen nodded. "Surely we should have noticed if someone was walking around with such…garish marks on them."

"There is one person…" said Ikeda. He looked across the circle at Shiori and Isao. "You two know who I mean, don't you?"

Isao turned to Shiori, swallowed thickly, then stepped back. 'I can't,' his eyes seemed to say.

Shiori turned back to everyone, hands balled into fists at her sides. _I…I have to do this…it can only be..._

* * *

SELECT A PERSON!

Shiori Miura

Isao Iwaka

Kokoa Uzumaki

Kashie Hatsume

Takeo Ikeda

 _[Hideyo Mitsugi]_

Take Muto

Seihiko Ginnaga

Homura Ideki

Kenji Ikeda

Rika Ohara

Remy Lander

Akiko Katsumi

Gorou Ishikawa

Karen Oshiro

Haruto Hanko

* * *

Shiori drew in a sharp breath, then blurted out, "Hideyo, are all of the stains on your kimono paint?"

Hideyo gaped. Eventually she found her voice, but it was choked with tears. "Shiori! You, you think I did this? I thought we were friends! How could you!? I would never do this! I could never hurt someone."

"But all the evidence lines up," said Ikeda cooly, "Your height, your lack of alibi, your refusal to show us you have no injuries. Even your behavior earlier in the trial is suspicious."

"And I may not be super observant," Take added, pointing to the photo of Hideyo and Mr. Saiki hanging up the backdrop, "But I can definitely see you have more red on your sleeves and front now than you did then."

"You shut up! That's all just circumstantial!" Hideyo protested, tugging on her sleeves. "That's… that's from painting last night! There's nothing that definitively proves it was me!" She turned back to Shiori again. "Shiori, please! Don't let Ikeda fool you! Remember all of those good times we had together? You can't through those away!"

Suddenly Isao looked up at Hideyo. "Why did you leave during the show…? You said…you were so excited about running things backstage. You volunteered for it!"

"I told you, I started feeling sick! So…so I left the show to go paint in the art center for a while!" Hideyo stood up straighter. "Yes yes! I went to work on my red dahlia painting! You've seen it! I showed it to you a few days ago. You know I'm not making it up."

Everyone else in the circle was staring at Hideyo, Isao, and Shiori. They seemed to be waiting. Shiori caught sight of Mr. Saiki in the corner of her eye; he looked stunned, gripping the edges of the stool.

Shiori looked back at Hideyo. _This is it._ "I…I'm sorry but…I know you're lying!"

* * *

ARGUMENT ARMEMENT

START!

HIDEYO: I couldn't be the culprit!

HIDEYO: This is all just circumstance.

HIDEYO: I'd never hurt anyone!

SHIORI: _It can't just be circumstance…_

HIDEYO: Shiori, you're my friend!

HIDEYO: We spent so much time together!

HIDEYO: So why are you accusing me?

HIDEYO: I thought you knew me better…

SHIORI: _So did I, but…_

HIDEYO: Don't listen to the others!

HIDEYO: They're just ganging up on me.

HIDEYO: They want a stupid scapegoat!

HIDEYO: You know I would never do this…

HIDEYO: And you know I'm not a liar!

HIDEYO: So just stop this!

SHIORI: _I'm so sorry, Hideyo…!_

HIDEYO: Why do you think I'm lying, Shiori?!

[YOU CAN'T PAINT IN THE WRONG LIGHT]

BREAK!

* * *

"You couldn't have been painting at night! The light is all wrong!" Shiori exclaimed, shouting threw the tears now running down her cheeks. "Just a few days ago, you said you couldn't work on that particular painting in the _late afternoon_ because the light was wrong! I may not know a lot about painting, but I know that artificial light would be even worse. I…I do know you, Hideyo. You take pride in your work! You wouldn't compromise it, even if it was to make yourself feel better when you were sick!"

Hideyo stood in stunned silence, her mouth just slightly open in shock.

Isao shook his head, fists tight at his sides. "Hideyo, why…? Why can't you just show us you're uninjured and prove it wasn't you? Why are you fighting like this?"

"Because you're all ganging up on me!" Hideyo retorted, her voice becoming venomous. "I see now our time spent together was wasted! You're all just…stupid! Stupid stupid stupid! You're all gonna die if you vote for me! So just stop it!"

Suddenly, Ikeda and Take nodded to each other, grabbed Hideyo's arms, and began wrestling to get her sleeves up. "What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Hideyo shouted.

"Since you are unwilling to show us whether or not you have injuries," said Ikeda, "It's simpler to just—"

"Hey!" shouted Mr. Saiki, jumping out of his seat, snapped out of whatever strange stupor he'd been in, "Rough housing is against the rules and I—!"

He stopped when he saw Hideyo's now exposed forearms. They were covered with bandages, a few hints of red bleeding through.

"There you have it!" declared Take, "Looks like we got our killer."

Homura, Seihiko, and Rika all gasped. Kashie hid her face with her hood, unable to face the situation. Remy frowned sadly, while Kenji and Kokoa simply gaped.

"What the actual fuck?" said Akiko.

Karen stared at Hideyo. "This is…I didn't think…"

Gorou somehow looked both hurt and furious. "You…you actually wanted to frame me before! God, what the hell? We all would have died! You killed him and were willing to let us die too so you could—"

"I didn't know that then!" Hideyo blurted out. Immediately she covered her mouth; Ikeda and Take released their grips.

Tears ran down Isao's cheeks. "Why…? Hideyo, what happened? How did this happen?"

Hideyo slowly lowered her hands and let her arms fall to her sides. "I…I don't wanna say it…"

"Well someone needs to say it!" Monokuma suddenly shouted, disrupting the tense, somber mood. "We need a rundown of how the whole case went down! Otherwise no one will get what the hell happened!"

"I'll do it," murmured Shiori. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'll give you your stupid recap!"

* * *

CLOSING ARGUMENT

ACT 1

 _It all started with the victim, Haruto Hanko. With the introduction of Monokuma's motive, he was becoming desperate to escape; the rule regarding the fate of everyone else when the blackened escaped hadn't been revealed, so maybe he thought the sacrifice of one person was necessary? We'll never know…_

 _What we do know is Haruto created a plan to murder someone. He chose two targets: Gorou Ishikawa, and the culprit. He secretly gave each of them a note, written on paper torn out of his puzzle book, telling them to meet at the pond; the culprit was to meet at 8:30, and Gorou at nighttime. Then he took a kitchen knife and waited to set his plan in motion._

ACT 2

 _When the culprit got the note, they decided to deal with the situation by themselves. During the talent show, they were meant to stay backstage and man the curtain, so they knew they wouldn't be easily missed. While Homura performed on stage, they took down the masking curtain from the backstage door, probably to make it easier get to the pond unnoticed in the dark. What they didn't know was that Kashie, the show's M.C., had noticed their absence. Before reaching the pond, they also grabbed a baseball bat from the sports shed._

ACT 3

 _Even though they had a weapon, the culprit was still surprised by Haruto's attack. Haruto managed to injure the culprit with the knife, but before long the culprit blocked the knife with the bat, and used it to throw the knife out of Haruto's reach. He tried to grab the culprit's arm, but the culprit attacked. It was pure instinct; the culprit just kept attacking until Haruto stopped moving._

 _At this point the culprit realized what they had done and began trying to cover up the scene. They found rocks nearby, and they planned to use them to weigh down the body so it would sink into the pond once it was wrapped in the cloth. However, the culprit stopped their preparation when they remembered the talent show would be ending soon; they had to return or they'd be noticed as missing. They snuck back into the mess hall just as the show ended, with no one but Kashie having known they had left at all._

ACT 4

 _While the culprit was busy trying to divert suspicion, Gorou was acting on his own note. He headed to the pond around the begining of nighttime, with Kokoa catching a glimpse of him as he went. When he reached the pond, he found Haruto's body, along with the abandoned rocks and cloth. Gorou feared the culprit would return to dispose of the body, so he put the body on the cloth and dragged it away, leaving bloody drag marks and footprints behind. I'm not sure why, but he decided to hang up the body using the flagpole. Maybe as a warning to the culprit? Whatever the reason, that was where we found the body the next morning._

 _What I am sure of is who the culprit of this case is. And even though it hurts me to say it…It has to be you, Hideyo Mitsugi!_

BREAK!

* * *

The whole circle looked to Hideyo. After a moment, she simply crossed her arms, her lip trembling just a bit. With that, Monokuma burst out laughing. "Alrighty! I'm satisfied. Let's get to the vote! Plug in your Monopads and the voting screen will appear."

"Wait!" said Shiori, "Hideyo hasn't had a chance to explain herself!"

"We can do that after you vote!" Monokuma snapped, "That's what the post-vote time is for! Now then! It's Voting Time!"

 _Why are you so particular about the order we do things!?_ Shiori thought as she plugged in her Monopad. When she did a screen with everyone's names and photos appeared. After a second of hesitation, Shiori clicked Hideyo's picture. A few more seconds past and the app closed.

"Well! Everyone's votes are in!" said Monokuma, "Let's see who you all voted for!"

A simple list of everyone's name popped up on the monitor. Beside Hideyo's name were fourteen tally marks. The fifteenth tally was beside Gorou's name.

"Now I shall reveal the identity of the blackened!" Monokuma announced. "Did you all make the right choice? Or the _horrifically_ wrong one!"

A roulette wheel graphic replaced the list, each student's name spinning past until it finally slowed, landing on 'Hideyo Mitsugi.' The screen filled with a cheap confetti graphic and shrill trumpet sounds blared through the room. "Upupu! Looks like you got it right! The blackened in this case is none other than Hideyo Mitsugi, the Penultimate Painter!"

Once again silence reigned in the room. No one seemed to know what to say. Surprisingly, Rika was the first one to talk. "So...what do we do now?"

"I recall Monokuma mentioning an execution," said Ikeda. Hideyo flinched.

"Nope! Not yet!" snapped Shiori, "He said we would have time for Hideyo explain herself after we voted, so that has to happen!"

"I thought it was pretty clear, though?" asked Homura.

Seihiko nodded. "Yeah, she killed Haruto out of self defense."

"A tragical moment of panic," said Karen.

"I think…what Shiori wants to know is…why Hideyo didn't come forward…" said Remy.

"Well, by the time the investigation started she knew she would die if she was found out!" said Akiko.

"And during the trial she needed a scapegoat; Rika, me, whoever," said Gorou.

Take turned to Hideyo and scoffed. "Also, did you seriously spite-vote for Gorou? There's no way that was gonna work."

Hideyo shrugged. "I had to vote for someone, and I'm not gonna contribute to my own sentencing…"

"Why didn't you tell us what happened?!" exclaimed Isao, voice tight in his throat. "Were you…why would you throw us all under the bus to try to escape the trial when you didn't mean to kill him?! Why…?" He wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to stop his shaking.

"I didn't wanna die!" shouted Hideyo. "Who would willingly let themselves be killed when they could escape?"

Everyone shuffled their feet. Finally, Kenji murmured, "But is that all there is to it…?"

"Your desperation during the trial seemed like more than just self preservation," Kokoa added.

Shiori stepped forward. "Please…if I don't know, I don't think I'll ever stop wondering, and…I don't want your memory to be any more…complicated than it's already gonna be…"

Hideyo looked around, then finally sighed. "Okay...Fine. Honestly? It was the motive."

Gorou looked shocked, while Ikeda's mouth twitched into a smile before returning to his neutral expression.

"So you just wanted to get rich?" asked Take.

"No no!" Hideyo protested. "I…God, I…my family's in debt. Badly…my parents were always so supportive of my painting, so they helped me get into an arts high school on scholarship. It was wonderful, but then my dad lost his job, and we couldn't keep up with the tuition. Before I came here, I didn't know what I was gonna do! Everything seemed so…hopeless. But with that kit…I could make enough money for all of us! We'd be happy again! But…I messed everything up…And I guess, it is better, like this? You found me out, fair and square. And now you all get to keep going…And it's not like my parents will have to deal with me anymore, right?" She wiped at the tears in her eyes.

"Don't say that," Mr Saiki said. "I'm sure they will be heartbroken when they learn what's happened."

"Yeah, heartbroken to learn that their daughter is a murderer," Hideyo muttered bitterly, "Maybe…maybe I deserve this…"

"No!" said Mr. Saiki. Everyone turned to look at him. Shiori almost gasped. _Why is he…?_

"I mean, in a normal court, you'd still get punished for lying, and concealing evidence, maybe manslaughter…" Mr. Saiki looked up, eyes focused on Monokuma. "But she'd be put in jail. Not executed."

"That's right…" said Isao, "This is overkill…"

Akiko scoffed. "You're pretty lenient towards someone who actively tried to get us all killed by voting for the wrong person!"

"Not that she did a particularly good job misdirecting us," Ikeda pointed out.

"Why would she be able to do a good job?" said Seihiko, "I mean, we're all just teenagers, not super villains or criminals or something…"

"Yes!" Shiori exclaimed. "We shouldn't even be put in this sort of situation. What Hideyo did was wrong, but none of this would have happened if it weren't for you, Monokuma!"

"But it _did_ still happen!" Monokuma snapped back. "Two of you're precious friends couldn't resist the temptation. And I know more will follow suit! Trust me, I know how to push people. It's my job! Upupu!"

"Can we just get on with this?" said Hideyo. Her gaze had hardened and she'd stopped crying. "I know this all a…a show to you or something, but I don't want anything to do with it. And everybody? Don't fall for this stupid bear's crap. I didn't know the full situation, but you do. You don't have an excuse! So get out of here together!"

Shiori nodded tensely. "We will. I promise we will!"

Isao put his hand on Shiori's shoulder. "You can count on us."

"Now then, I've prepared an extra _special_ punishment for Hideyo Mitsugi, the Penultimate Painter!" Monokuma clapped in delight.

Hideyo went pale. "Wait, I thought this was just gonna be lethal injection or electric chair or something! What the heck does 'special' mean?!"

Monokuma continued, unperturbed. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!"

* * *

HIDEYO MITSUGI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY!

COMMENCING EXECUTION

 _A horrible creek come from the ceiling and before anyone could move a giant metal claw descended and snatched up Hideyo around the waist. She screamed and began struggling as the claw carried her toward a giant door opening to the left._

PENULTIMATE PAINTER HIDEYO MITSUGI'S EXECUTION:

THE PERFECT CANVAS

 _As the claw came to a stop, dozens of brightly colored air guns appeared. For second everything was still, but then one gun fired and hit Hideyo in the shoulder, exploding in a burst of neon green paint. Soon all of the guns were pelting her with paint balls. She flinched as the balls broke her unprotected skin. Only when Hideyo was completely covered in paint and blood did the guns stop. She panted, looking around. Was it over?_

 _Her question was soon answered as a glass tank rose out of the ground. The claw finally released Hideyo and she dropped into the tank. Before she even stand up a metal lid closed over the top and she was trapped. She rushed to the side of the tank facing the rest of the students and banged her hands against the glass._

 _Suddenly there was a low rumbling from under the floor. Hideyo looked down and saw that thick green paint was seeping into the tank from below. Immediately Hideyo began banging against the glass again. Although the glass blocked her voice, everyone knew she was screaming. The paint rose faster and faster. Soon Hideyo was treading water in the paint, but the weight of her already soaked clothes threatened to pull her under. She managed to struggle out of her kimono, but by then she was inches from the metal lid. Hideyo took one last desperate breath, and she disappeared under the paint._

* * *

 _With that we have finished the first trial! I hope you enjoyed the mystery and the execution. I have one more part planned for chapter one, to check in with Reijirou and deal with some of the fallout of everything that's happened, but it might be a bit shorter; I'm not sure yet. I'm also hoping to do something for Nanowrimo this year, but I'm gonna split my time between this and a personal project. As always I will post my progress on the next chapter on my profile so you can know about how far along I am. Let me know what you thought of the chapter and any thoughts you have about the events and characters; I love hearing from you! Till next time!_


	11. Chapter 1 (part 7)

Reijirou had lost count of how many moments of shocked silence there had been during this whole ordeal, but at least this one was short. His stomach churned, but he managed to avoid vomiting again. From the sound of things, a few of the students hadn't succeeded. Homura shuffled away from the corner she'd thrown up in, her face red and puffy from crying. Surprisingly, Reijirou also saw Akiko attempting to clean her mouth and avoid her own vomit. _I guess everyone has a limit to what they can stomach,_ he thought. Kenji wobbled on his feet, with a pale and wide-eyed Remy holding him up. Kashie desperately held one hand to her stomach and the other to her mouth. Kokoa was turned away from the scene, holding herself with shaking arms. Rika thankfully hadn't fainted again, but she seemed to frozen, staring blankly at the ground. Karen stood beside her, a tentative hand on her shoulder, but she was also shaking. Seihiko clenched and unclenched his fists. Ikeda looked absolutely furious and he glared directly at Monokuma. Shiori and Isao clung to each other.

"Woooo! A dramatic finish to our first trial!" crowed Monokuma.

"What the hell…?" said Take. He'd taken off his hat and was running his hand through his hair.

"Do you get off on this shit?!" shouted Gorou. "There's no way that was necessary! Drowning is already a cruel way to die, and you found a way to make it worse! In fact, aren't you trying to get us to kill each other? Who the hell would try after seeing that?"

Monokuma waggled his finger. "Ah ah ah! If someone's really determined, then seeing this will just make them try harder not to be caught! Which means a more dramatic game for me! Also! My preferences are none of your business. Be glad I keep them to myself."

"...You're fucked up, dude," said Akiko.

"I agree," said Ikeda, the amount of venom and hatred in his own shocking Reijirou. "You are truly one of the most heinous people I have ever met."

"Really?" said Monokuma with fake surprise. "Well considering the sorta people you've worked with, I should be honored!"

Ikeda looked startled, but remained silent.

"Can we...I mean, are we done here?" asked Isao.

Monokuma shrugged. "I mean, technically, but feel free to stick around and talk about all your complex feelings about this! It's literally the reason Mr. Saiki is here. But for me, I am done-zo! See ya later, bastards! Upupu!" With that, Monokuma jumped off the back of the judge's desk and disappeared.

Immediately Reijirou realized everyone was now looking at him. He put on his calm, teacher face. _Hope it's convincing, because wow I can't believe I'm not hyperventilating right now._ "So uh…while I do want to have a chance for people to talk about all this, I think we shouldn't do that…here. Why don't we all head back up, and if you want to talk in a group, stick around the fire pit? If you're not comfortable with that, or if you need time alone, please feel don't feel like you have to stay. I'll be ready any time to talk about this."

"Don't have to tell me twice," said Akiko, heading straight to the elevator.

Everyone filed in and begun their return to the surface. After a few more tense minutes the group finally exited the elevator and stepping back into the light. Immediately Ikeda, Akiko, and Gorou began walking back to towards the cabins. A moment later Remy led a still shaky Kenji away, with Karen and Kokoa trailing behind.

Take started to leave, but turn back to look at Seihiko and Homura. "You coming?"

"Oh yeah, 'course…" said Homura, snapping out of her own thoughts.

Seihiko looked back Reijirou before turning to Take. "I uh, think I'll stay? Just for a bit; I'll come find you after."

"But then you'll miss our special secret friend group feelings jam or whatever." Take wrapped his hand around Homura's shoulder and began walking.

Seihiko faltered. "No, I...I mean, I'll come." He gave a sheepish smile to Reijirou. "It's not like we can't have more group talks later?"

Reijirou bit his lip. _Take is getting pushy and I don't like it, but I did say it was optional._ "Of course, feel free to come by any time."

With that the trio finally headed out. Shiori, Isao, and Kashie sat down on some of the logs. Reijirou joined them, then looked to where Rika was still standing where she'd exited the elevator. "Do you wanna join us?"

Rika jolted, as if she hadn't realized what had been going before now. "Oh…no thank you!" Some of her cheerfulness had returned, but it felt different now. Not forced, but changed in some way. "I don't really know what I'm feeling right now so how could I talk about it?"

"That's a perfectly normal reaction to a stressful situation," said Reijirou, "But like I told Seihiko, if you want to talk later just come find me."

"Okay!" said Rika, who immediately began walking very quickly away.

Reijirou turn back to the group, which, he admitted, was a bit smaller than he hoped, but at least a few had stayed. _This is just a standard group therapy for handling grief, not too complicated…they're just, grieving people who got murdered…never mind Reijirou move on or you'll get stuck in that thought and that helps no one._ "So, just to be clear, this just a space to share what we're feeling right now. We're not gonna judge how we're taking things, because everyone handles things differently…Not that I think any of you would! This is just to start processing things. So, uh, does anyone want to start?"

Surprisingly, the first to speak was Kashie. "What…what do you, uh, think would've happened if I…if I hadn't said anything? About Hideyo not…being backstage?" She'd pulled her knees and hugged them close to herself, leaving her almost entirely covered by her coat.

"Honestly? I think we would have come to the correct conclusion eventually," said Isao. "Hideyo was…was already gonna be a possible suspect, and with that stunt Take and Ikeda pulled, we got our proof, so…"

"But," Reijirou cut in, "Either way, I think it was best that you did share, Kashie. In this sort of…situation, it can feel like pointing out evidence that helps convict someone if the same as condemning them, but it's not." _Because it's Monokuma fault,_ he finished internally.

Kashie remained silent for a moment. "...It still feels bad. I should have been paying attention...if, if I had, maybe I could've…I don't know…"

"If anyone should have stopped her it's us!" said Isao, standing up and beginning to pace. "We're her friends, there must have been something we could have said—"

Suddenly Shiori gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

Reijirou quickly scooted over to her. "Shiori, what's the matter?"

"The day it happened," she started, "I told her— I told her to watch out for Haruto, because I'd run into him the night before, and he got angry at me, and that's why she took the bat and why she didn't tell us about the note 'cause she didn't want to worry me and god this is my fault—" Shiori choked on her tumbling words as she began sobbing in earnest.

Isao rushed over to Shiori's other side and wrapped her in a tight hug. Kashie stood up and shuffled over, cautiously putting her hands on her shoulders. Reijirou stuck to setting a hand on her arm. "It wasn't your fault," Reijirou said, keeping his soft and gentle, "We can't know exactly why Hideyo reacted in the way she did, even with what she told us. But even if we knew for sure that what you said affected her way of thinking, it still wouldn't be your fault. Hideyo's choices were hers. She's the only one responsible for what she did."

Shiori whipped her dripping nose and sniffled. "But I was taking the lead…she trusted my advice. And as a leader I should have done a better job making sure Haruto was okay. If I had maybe he wouldn't have…" She threw up her hands. "Aren't leaders responsible for what the people they're leading do?"

Reijirou gulped. _Why didn't I think of this when I gave her leadership advice? Because I didn't think anyone would actually kill, or it just didn't occur to me? Crap, I need to say something._ "Well…okay, here's the thing; for your friends, you're a leader by example, a leader because people like you and trust you. Not a leader appointed and given responsibility by some bigger authority. There's no higher person you have to answer to. Not me, not Monokuma, not anyone outside." Shiori took a shuddering breath and leaned into Isao and Kashie. "No one else should blame you. If they do, they're wrong."

"And if they try, we'll be right there to say they're wrong," said Isao, "Shiori…you are a sweet and compassionate person, not to mention confident in social situations. It makes you a natural leader, or even just a guide or example to strive for…everyone just has to decide for themselves if they want to follow your lead, just like it's everyone choice how they…handle what Monokuma throws at us."

Shiori hiccuped. "You…you really think that?"

"Yeah, I do."

"...So do I," murmured Kashie. "You make me want to…to be more confident, and…get to know people, so…you shouldn't feel bad…"

"Heh, thank you…so much." Shiori smiled and sniffled again.

Reijirou smiled back. "You're welcome." The group sat quietly together for a time. Not like one of the tense silences of the trial, but a contented silence, the kind that comes from simply enjoying the presence of another person.

Eventually, Isao broke the silence. "...Can we even trust people here? I mean, I trust you, Shiori, but I trusted Hideyo too but...uh that sounds bad, I should just—"

"No no, it's an understandable feeling," said Reijirou, "Someone you trusted did something you never expected. It's a destabilizing feeling."

"...Hideyo never told you about her money problems, right?" asked Kashie.

Isao looked back at her, startled. "You're right; she didn't…"

"So she was already a…private person, even towards people she liked. So maybe it… makes sense she didn't tell you."

"We're still getting to know each other," said Shiori. "As we get to know everyone, we'll be able to better understand why they do what they do."

"Even then, you'll never be able to fully know anyone's reasoning as well as you know your own," mused Reijirou. "That's part of life…"

Shiori stood up. "But I do want to understand what I can. And I'm gonna start with Gorou…because he doesn't have anyone right now, and that…it worries me. And I know it's not my responsibility or anything but…I want to. Does that make sense?"

Reijirou stood as well. "Yeah. It might not be easy; there are people who take a long time to really open up. Just be patient and supportive. Knowing a person isn't just knowing…things that happened to them or how they think. Like, I could describe exactly how one my co-workers talks and that she loves matcha flavored things, but I couldn't tell you where she's from or even if she has any siblings."

The three students looked a bit puzzled. Suddenly Shiori snickered. "Mr. Saiki, that does sounds like good advice but…also like you are just kind of awkward and remember really random things about people."

Reijirou coughed and said, "Well, uh…Either way, I wish you luck. So, is there anything else, or are we ready to head back?" Everyone glanced around, but when no one said anything else, Reijirou just clapped his hands. "Great! I think this was a good talk, but just remember this is gonna be a process. Don't feel like you have to be completely…okay with things yet."

"Sure…" said Isao. "How about we all walk back to the cabins?"

The walk to the cabins was short. Kashie split off first. Isao was next, and when he carefully opened his cabin door and glanced in he turned back to Shiori. "Gorou isn't here…"

Shiori bit her lip. "I guess it would be better to talk to him later anyway."

"I certainly just want to take some time to process…that," said Isao, "And maybe get some food; I don't think we've eaten today."

"That's right!" realized Reijirou, "We found the body in the morning, and then right from the investigation to the trial, and now it's afternoon…I'm gonna make sure everyone gets some food."

Shiori and Isao looked at each other, then she said, "I think I'm gonna wait a bit on food, but thanks, Mr. Saiki."

Reijirou waved them goodbye and started for the mess hall. He went to his office first, just to planning to make a list of what kind of foods to make. _If I stop doing things at this point I think I'll either pass out or break down crying, and neither of those are what I want to be doing right now. I'll cry after everyone has food._ However, just as he had sat down and pulled out his paper and pen, he heard the T.V. click on. Immediately he groaned. _I do not need this right now…_

"Alright fellow faculty!" said Monokuma, "I say it's time for a debriefing on how the trial went!"

"What does that even mean?" snapped Reijirou. "We were both there for it; we know what happened."

"Oh, looks like someone's getting testy! But it's still important for us to share our observations! You tell me who's already on the edge so I can give them the right…push."

Reijirou froze. _Shit. Shit shit shit. No, crap, I'm not gonna help him get these kids to kill each other! How do I deflect, crap—_

Monokuma giggled. "Come on, you didn't think I wouldn't call on your skills in understanding these bastards' behavior? I'm good at picking up the obvious stuff, but we're gonna need more than that! That first motive was easy pickings! Knowing the kind of students I was gonna have, it was basically a gimme! It's not like I don't have some motives in mind, but c'mon! I need more to go off of."

"Well, um…" Reijirou gulped. "I'm not sure exactly what's gonna be helpful for you but…uh…Shiori and Isao are obviously pretty torn up about this; Hideyo was their friend so…"

"I literally just said I can get the obvious stuff! Give me something juicy!"

 _Double crap._ "Well, uh…I think Rika has some…unresolved issues around violence. I mean, I'm not really sure what her uh, 'gladiator' work entailed, but she has some repressed feelings about that need to be addressed." _Unless I'm wrong, if we can just get her some support she should be fine. Karen seems to be growing closer to her, and she's been participating in some group activities…_

Monokuma pondered for a second. "Hmm, you're right! Her whole mess is definitely gonna cause some drama when it comes to a head…but I wanna save that for a bit later! What else?"

Reijirou wracked his brain, trying to think of something else to say that would satisfy the bear without putting someone at high risk. _I have so many thoughts about Ikeda that I could write a book and that honestly makes me want Monokuma to stay the hell away from him…What else?_ "So…this is a more general observation, but it seems like most of the students are pretty secretive, and not just in the sense of keeping private. I could mention a few specifically that I think have…rather important secrets, but…I'm sure you've already noticed…?"

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking! I definitely know what you mean. Like Gorou? That kid is a massive bundle of issues! Seriously, he is so easy to goad! It already made this case more interesting. I can't wait to push him further."

Reijirou slowly stood. "Wait a second; what does that mean?"

"Whatever are you talking about?" Monokuma singsonged.

"You said it made the _case_ more interesting, not the trial…did you talk to Gorou when he was moving Haruto's body?!" _Is that why he was so evasive about his reasons for hanging up the body?!_ Reijirou's expression hardened. "I think you have at least as much of a handle on things as I do. So if that's all you wanted, I'm going to make some food."

Before Monokuma could say another word, he walked into his room and closed the door behind him. He took a shuddering breath to calm the building rage within him. Once he felt calm enough to not just immediately rant at whoever he ran into, he headed into the main mess hall. He saw that Rika and Isao had already gotten some food, although it looked like Isao had grabbed most of the leftovers from the past few days. Reijirou nodded to them. Only Rika nodded back; Isao was too busy with his food. Then he moved on into the kitchen.

Reijirou immediately threw himself into cooking. He chose to make onigiri, because they were portable but are also still okay when eaten later. _Operation: comfort food is go. Now where are the bonito flakes…_ He poked his head into the fridge, but no luck. He turned to try one of the walk in fridges when he saw the last one was propped open with a box of frozen hamburgers. "What in the…?"

Poking his head through the opening, he saw Gorou huddled on the ground, his head resting on his pulled up knees. Gorou snapped up, and Reijirou saw a few tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

"Go away! I'm not doing you're touchy-feely bullshit!" Gorou rubbed at his eyes to wipe away the tears.

Reijirou paused for a moment, then stepped over the box and sat down in front of it. "We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, but do you mind telling me why you're hanging out in here? It's…kinda cold."

"That's the point, dumb ass. Plus people don't come in here often, other than Kokoa, and she only uses the first couple freezers…"

"Alright…" Reijirou pondered what to say next. _He really needs to talk about this, but I can't force him, and I doubt he trusts me…_ Finally he said, "Do you…wanna help me make onigiri? I find simple repetitive tasks help distract me from…things that are hard to deal with, until it's a bit less raw."

Gorou gave him a strange look, but after a moment he said, "Sure. Just don't try to make me talk about feelings or anything."

The two exited the freezer (with the bonito flakes), and set to work shaping and wrapping the onigiri. When Reijirou glanced over to look at Gorou's work, he saw they were incredibly neat; each little rice ball was in a perfect triangle with the seaweed securely wrapped. "Good job. Where did you learn to make onigiri?"

Gorou shrugged. "Did it with my brothers when I was little. But I didn't get good at it until later."

"More practice?"

"Yeah, 'cause I was making them by myself…" Gorou pounded the rice more fiercely between his hands.

Reijirou kept his surprise at Gorou's response to himself. _Tread carefully, or he might clam up again…_ "That's a shame. I always find it's more fun to cook with other people. Maybe you could ask Kokoa if you two could cook together."

"Nope. She's way too protective of her recipes. I saw Homura try and ask what was in her chocolate, and she glared so hard it felt colder than the freezer. And no one else really cooks all that much. So, alone it is…" Gorou trailed off, pursing his lips. His eyes shone with unshed tears.

Reijirou put down the half formed onigiri in his hand. "Look, I understand it's hard to be in a place where you don't feel safe. Where you don't trust others. But even at times like this you really shouldn't isolate yourself. That doesn't mean you have to be super open about things you don't want to talk about, but it would still—"

Gorou scoffed. "Hah! Like anyone would even want to hang out with me now. Sure, Shiori helped me out during the trial, but that was just save everyone. Why would she hang out with a freak who strings people's corpses up on flagpoles?"

"You're not a freak," Reijirou said, "Whatever happened that made you decide it was necessary—"

"It wasn't fucking necessary!" Gorou shouted. "I was scared out of my goddamn mind someone was gonna think I killed him, and why wouldn't they? One loner freaks kills another loner freak. So I just started dragging the body away on the cloth as fast as I could, trying to get as far away as possible so the killer wouldn't come back and screw it all up. I get to flagpole and my lungs are killing me so I stop, then that fucking bear shows up! And he's talking about how if no one finds the body we won't have a trial, and that pisses me off because no way am I letting the sick fuck who killed someone get away with it. I didn't know that meant the culprit would die too! Then he's talking about how fun the investigation will be, and how eventually everyone stops thinking of the corpse as a person, just a piece of evidence, and that pisses me off even more! Like hell was I gonna let anyone, especially the killer, forget how fucked up this situation was. So I just, grabbed the rope from the flagpole and tied the body to it and…God, it was so stupid! I could have just left the body there, or gotten you! Your room was right there! But I was too caught up in my own paranoid self-righteous bullshit!"

After his outburst, Gorou panted, his clenched fists trembling.

Reijirou swallowed. He was honestly at a loss for words. _This is not what I was expecting…_

Gorou scowled. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything? It's screwed up, right? What normal person does that?"

"...You were angry, and scared," said Reijirou, his throat dry. "That can make people act irrationally. And in the end, no one else was hurt, so…I think I'm more concerned with how you're dealing with what happened."

"Why? Think I'm gonna kill someone? Gotta check in with me so you can tell Monokuma how close I am to snapping?"

"No?" Reijirou held up his hands in placation. "I haven't told Monokuma anything anyone has told me in confidence. I know I can't exactly prove it, but look. My day job is writing the advice column for a newspaper; being confidential is part of my job."

Gorou eyed him. "I thought you were a counselor."

"I mean I am, technically, according to Monokuma. But I'm still in school," he clarified.

Gorou seemed to be calming down, but he still seemed suspicious. "...How old are you anyway?"

Reijirou answered truthfully. "Twenty-three."

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Gorou looked down and muttered, "But…why would he choose you if you're—? That makes no sense!" Looking back up at Reijirou for a moment, Gorou turned and left.

The wave of adrenaline that had been holding Reijirou together since the end of the trial seemed to snap, and as soon as he was alone he sat down in the kitchen floor. It was too much; too many emotionally draining events in one day. Trying to keep his breath steady, he wrapped his arms around his own body and let himself tremble and cry silent tears.

* * *

 _"Alright…"_

 _It was the night after the first trial. Inside the cabin he once shared with Haruto Hanko, Takeo Ikeda carefully lifted the mattress of his former classmate's bunk. All of the notes were left untouched. The observations might be in code, or unintelligible to some, but they still contained the findings of a puzzle master collected over almost four full days of exploring and pondering._

 _"Foolish. All of this information, left here. Information is the key to everything. Let's not let this go to waste…"_

 _Ikeda smiled._

" _You won't win. Not until I know everything there is to know about this game…"_

 _Chapter 1: "All that Glitters"_

END

 _Students remaining: 14_

* * *

 _So that's the end of the first chapter! Sorry if this chapter is a bit short, but I just wanted a bit of time to get into how some of the characters are dealing with things, since I find that important for the drama and pathos of the story to really land. I hope you don't mind that this was mostly talking. Next time we go back to Shiori for the first part of chapter 2. I've made a poll for Freetime events, so please let me know who you'd like Shiori to hang out with. I'm not sure how Nanowrimo with really affect my pace at this point, but as always, progress on my profile! See you next time!_


	12. Chapter 2 (part 1)

_"Okay, something is definitely going on with Ask Nori."_

 _"Why do you say that? I mean, yeah they doubled up on the Ask Ren column, but it came back yesterday."_

 _"But the writing style is all wrong! Like, they're not even trying to pretend it's the same person."_

 _"Maybe Nori just changed their style. You think of that?"_

 _"I did! So I went to check on Nori's blog and—"_

 _"Wait, Ask Nori has a blog?"_

 _"Yep! They take questions there and publish short responses to letters that don't make it into the paper. And guess what? The blog hasn't updated in a week. After months of consistently posting at least once per day, even if it was just a 'hey I can't answer questions today, see you tomorrow' type deal! Why the sudden silence?"_

 _"That…that is really weird. Even if Nori got fired from the paper, why would the blog be down? That's so strange. But…why do you care so much? It's just an advice column."_

" _I…I sent a letter, before all this happened. I'd been reading their column for months and they seemed like…I don't know, like they really cared, and it wasn't just a job to them. I waited for a response, but it didn't come. I was so disappointed. But then I found the blog, and look! That's how I signed my letter! I'm the last person they responded to! It feels like I might be the last person they tried to contact before they disappeared. So I have to do something!"_

" _Wow, okay. I can see you're set on this. But what can we do? It's not like the paper is gonna answer a couple of teenagers."_

" _Then…we'll just have to figure something out! Someone's got to know who Nori is, and once we have a real name, we can start looking!"_

* * *

 _Chapter 2: Before Embarking on a Journey of Revenge, Dig Two Graves_

* * *

Shiori stared up at the bunk above her. She could hear Kokoa shuffling about, getting ready so she could get to the mess hall right as it opened. Homura and Karen were still sleeping, but she thought she heard a few soft whimpers. Yesterday had been tough on everyone.

She hadn't really done much the rest of the day of trial. She did eat; Kokoa came back to the cabin with some onigiri she'd found abandoned in the kitchen, but other than that she just sort of napped, braided and unbraided her hair, and cried softly. She couldn't bring herself to get anything to do from the art center, or talk to anyone. The trial and meeting after had completely drained her. Unfortunately, it meant she hadn't slept well that night. _I finally get to sleep, and then have nightmares about drowning. Wonderful._

Finally, the morning announcement came. Shiori tuned most of it out, instead contemplating if she should get up, when she heard Monokuma break from the usual script. "And now for a camp life update! Because you have made it through the first trial, I have opened a few new areas of the island for you to explore! Hopefully that'll break some of you out of your funks! Seriously, you have got to be one of the most depressed groups of teens I've ever seen!"

Just as the intercom clicked off, it came back on, but this time it was Mr. Saiki's voice. "Please make sure to get some food before exploring! I know yesterday was uh…well, just make sure you're taking care of yourselves."

Shiori took a deep breath and sat up. _That's enough of that. If there're more places open, we might find something to help us get out of here._ She got ready as quickly as she could and made her way to the mess hall. On the way she saw that the lock and beam that had been keeping the barn locked were gone, but she continued on. _Don't want to go exploring by myself._

However, just as she was about to enter the mess hall, Isao and Kashie exited. Isao was wiping a bit of food from the corner of his mouth, while Kashie held an apple.

"Oh! Sh-shiori!" Kashie stammered in surprise.

"We were just about to come get you!" said Isao. "I was going to have a full breakfast, but Rika— uh, she's still inside; she pointed out that you weren't here yet, so I said I'd come get you."

Kashie rubbed her arm sheepishly. "And I, I uh, thought I'd bring you something?" She held up the apple.

Shiori smiled and took it. "Kashie, that's so sweet of you! And actually, I noticed on the way over that something's going on by the barn. If you two don't mind, could we maybe check it out?"

Kashie nodded, but Isao seemed a bit hesitant. "Just…let me get the rest of my food first." With that he dashed back into the mess hall. Not even a minute later he returned with three bananas and what looked like a smoothie. "Glad I got the rice and eggs done first! Those would have been hard to carry."

Shiori stole a glance at Kashie, but didn't comment. _Just more of Isao being weird with food._ Instead she said, "Okay, let's see what the heck is going on with the barn."

The group walked back over to the barn. Taking a deep breath, Shiori pushed open the door. Inside she saw the barn held three empty stalls and a loft above them covered in hay. The walls were covered with various pieces of farm and building equipment; shovels, ladders, hammers, nails, even a plow. In one corner stood a woodworking bench, with a circular saw bolted to it and various carving tools strewn about nearby.

And it turned out they weren't the first people to notice the open door. Seihiko carefully examined the woodworking equipment. Homura poked around one of the stalls. In the loft, Shiori spotted Remy carefully digging through the hay. On the edge of the loft sat Take, gazing out over everything.

"Hey guys!" said Shiori. "Did you find anything interesting, or that could help us escape?"

Homura poked her over the barrier of the stall. "Not yet! Just lots of hay and uh…hamster crap, I think?"

Shiori frowned. "I…don't think hamsters live wild around here? It's probably from mice."

Homura laughed sheepishly. "Oh yeah, that makes more sense."

"And bird shit," added Take. "There's the beginnings of a nest up here too."

"I want to find a mouse," said Remy as he suddenly popped up from behind a pile of hay.

"These tools could be useful," Seihiko suggested. "The saw is bolted to the table, but the other stuff could help us uh…unlock the gates? Or uncover a hidden control panel?"

Kashie shuffled her feet. "Did uh, anyone…find a hidden panel?"

Seihiko faltered. "Well no, but if we ever do, we have a way to open it."

"And now my posse has got a sweet place to chill," Take bragged. "'Course we'll let ya'll in if you ask, because you're pretty cool, but let everyone else know that the barn is now officially the headquarters of the Lil' Hotshots, 'kay?"

Homura looked puzzled. "We have a name now? Did you name us and I just forgot?"

"Nah, the name's new, but I'd been thinking about it for a while. The Hotshots are my proper bandit gang, but you guys are pretty chill, so you get to be the Lil' Hotshots. Homura, you're the muscle, and Seihiko, you're the brains." Take turned to Kashie and winked. "You're free to join us, too; just remember I'm the leader, so I call the shots."

Homura gave Take a raised eyebrow. "And take all of our stuff!" Her tone was playful, but Shiori thought she saw Seihiko give her a tense look, but it's over so fast that Shiori doesn't have a chance to really think about it.

"Uh…" Kashie's eyes went wide and she looked all around the room, "That, that uh, sounds nice but, um, I'm okay? I don't know if I wanna hang out in a…barn."

Remy appeared behind Take a poked him in the shoulder. When he turned around, Remy said, "I need to get pictures of the mouse. If I join, can I stay here and set up a hiding place to catch him on camera?"

Take pondered for a moment, then stood up with a smile. "Sure, dude! It'd be cool to have another member." Suddenly, in one swift motion Take grabbed Remy in a headlock and snatched up his camera. "Now how the heck does this thing work? Shit, this thing looks expensive!"

Remy's expression immediately turned dark, despite his face barely moving. "Don't touch my camera."

Take continued fiddling with the camera's buttons, as if he hadn't heard him. "Oh boy, this thing is high-def! I'm gonna get you to take super fancy pictures of all my awesome treasure when we get out of here."

Now Remy's face looked truly angry. He elbowed Take in the rib and snatched back his camera. "Nope." He rushed down the loft ladder and out of the barn.

"Yo, what the hell?" asked Take. "Greedy lil shit…"

Isao frowned. "You're the one who took camera."

Take looked almost offended. "Yeah, and…?"

 _Woah, okay, Take is getting weird; this could get bad very fast,_ thought Shiori. "Uh, we'll leave you to your uh, headquarters! Bye guys!" She grabbed Isao and Kashie and took them out of the barn.

Once the barn door was safely closed behind them, Shiori sighed in relief. The three exchanged a tense look, then Isao chuckled. "Thanks for getting us out of that situation." Kashie nodded vigorously in agreement.

Shiori gave a sheepish smile, then stopped. "Do you think we should tell Mr. Saiki about Take? I mean, he hasn't caused too much trouble yet, but I feel like at some point he's gonna get someone really mad with his stealing."

"I uh, well…it hasn't been too bad so far, right?" said Kashie.

"And I bet Mr. Saiki's already keeping his eye on him," added Isao. "How about we see if there's any other new areas open?"

Shiori perked up. "Yeah! The barn might be uh…occupied, but some of those tools really might be useful. So, which way should we go?" She pulled out her Monopad and looked at the island map.

Kashie peered down the path that led past the corral. "It uh, doesn't look like the gate down this way is open."

"Darn it, that cuts off at least a third of the island," said Shiori, "But look, wasn't the barn grayed out before?" Sure enough, the icon of the barn was now lit.

Glancing at the Monopad, Isao said, "Maybe it lights up as we find new areas?"

"That'd make sense. Well, I guess the only other direction we can go is past the pond." Shiori put away her Monopad, and the group began walking.

Pretty soon they came within sight of the pond. Shiori immediately noticed that the heavy lock on the stairs up the tower by the side of the pond was open. "Guys, the tower's open! Let's head up." Quickly the group climbed up the stairs and reached the top.

The top of the tower was mostly open with a simple wooden railing around the edge. By two of the sides stood binoculars, the type at the top of tall buildings. On the third side was a small gate in the railing and the top of a zip-line. Just as the group reached the top, they saw Rika, wearing one of the zip-line harnesses, jump off and whoop all the way down. Karen leaned on the railing nearby. Meanwhile, Akiko and Ikeda were looking through the binoculars.

Shiori rushed over to watch Rika ride down the zip line. Rika continued her cheerful shouting as she descended. Karen watched as well, rolling her eyes a bit, but also smiling. When she reached the bottom of the line on the other side of the pond, Rika turned back and began waving. "Karen! You should try it!" she shouted back to them.

Karen took a step back, shaking her head. "I can't. I'm not going to do something so…indignafied."

Akiko turned away from her binoculars. "Oh come on, Dictionary. Live a little! Or are you scared?"

"I'm not scared. I just don't think we should be…mucking around when we're in… uncartogrified areas." Karen glanced over at Ikeda, waiting for him to say something. He did not seem to acknowledge the conversation. After a moment she added, "It is far more important to be…foraging more information about our situation."

Isao shrugged. "I mean, there isn't all that much up here besides the binoculars. So you could use the zip-line to get down and do some more exploring."

Karen looked back down at Rika, who was still waiting at the bottom. "I…suppose that's true. Fine." She carefully put on the other harness, took a step back, and then jumped off the tower. After only a second she was whooping just as loud as Rika had been.

Shiori giggled. _I feel like Karen needs to let go more._

"Hey Bubbly," said Akiko, waving her over, "Wanna take a look?" She gestured to the binoculars.

"Sure!" Shiori stepped up the binoculars and slowly scanned them over the landscape. She could see most of the areas she'd already explored, such as the mess hall, the buildings around it, the cabins, and the field. As she turned to look at the half of island that remained unexplored, she couldn't really see much through the trees. She thought she spotted a cliff further along past the pond, and some sort of pointed structure poking through the forest canopy beyond the barn, but what worried her was that, no matter which way she looked, she saw no other land masses.

Turning to Ikeda, Shiori asked, "Have you been able to see the shore through the binoculars on your side?"

Her statement seemed to break Ikeda out of his thoughts. "Not really. A few hazy shapes in the distance that could be land, but it's impossible to tell at this distance. No ships in the water either."

"Not even ships? We must be really out of the way…" said Isao.

Kashie figited. "But even in uh...in open water, there are fishing boats, right? Do you, um, think a smoke signal could help?"

"Hell yes! Let's burn some shit!" Akiko pumped her fist in the air.

"That would require material to burn," said Ikeda, "And even if we could cut down a tree for fuel, I doubt Monokuma would allow us to just start burning things willy-nilly."

"I mean, we'd have to be careful about it, but it could work! The rules are so vague!" said Shiori, "What even counts as camp property? Do the trees count?"

Akiko smiled from where she leaned against the railing. "That's the way to think, Bubbly."

Ikeda looked like he was about to sigh in exasperation, but he held it in. "The actual text of the rules hardly matters when Monokuma can just interpret them in whatever way suits his needs."

Shiori frowned, but nodded. Akiko grumbled something under her breath and went back to her telescope.

Turning to Kashie and Isao, Shiori asked, "Ready to move on?" They both agreed, and the group headed back down the stairs.

From there they set off down the path past the pond, eventually reaching the now open metal gate Shiori had discovered on the first day. The path wound through the woods for some ways, then they reached a fork. The right path was blocked with another gate, but the left path continued. Right at the fork in the road stood a hollowed out tree, with a tiny sign in the ground nearby. When Shiori walked over to get a closer look, she saw the sign read 'The Wishing Tree.'

"Wait…did Monokuma put this here?" Shiori gave a disbelieving laugh. "Did he seriously think while building this place, 'Hmm, you know what this camp needs? A mysterious tree to leave wishes in!' How cliche can you get?"

Kashie examined the tree at a distance. "I've…never been to a real camp…Do they have this sort of thing?"

"Well, they do in stories! There's always a place with some kind of legend or superstition attached. Like a haunted cave or a stump where if you confess your love to someone, you'll be together forever!" Shiori didn't mention exactly where she'd learned that. _Don't need to mention reading American Summer Camp AUs…at least they helped me learn more about America!_

"Are we sure Monokuma set this up?" asked Isao. "Maybe this place was a real camp that he…took over, somehow?"

"Well, the cabins and mess hall all look really new, especially the wood," said Shiori, "But with some of the other buildings it hard to tell."

Kashie frowned. "If…if he did uh, take over this place…wouldn't the people who own it be suspicious?"

"That's true," Isao conceded. He seemed to deflate for a second but then he perked back up. "How about we see what's down this other path?"

They moved on down the path until they came to a clearing with what appeared to an archery area. The clearing was mostly filled with a simple roofed shelter with a few benches, and one wall on each side with various sizes of bows and arrows. On the other side of the shelter they could see targets of different sizes at different distances. As she entered she saw Kenji sitting on the edge of the concrete floor of the shelter, examining a little sapling poking out at the place where the concrete ended and the dirt began. She also saw Gorou gently prodding the end of one of the arrows.

Shiori gulped. _Wow, okay, there he is; what should I say now? Wait, am I apologizing for not checking on him, or asking him to hang out with us? Uh, second one seems less awkward with other people around…_ Clearing her throat, she called to Gorou. "Hey! How are the arrows?"

Gorou looked up, then shrugged. "Most of then aren't really sharp enough to hurt, but some are definitely…pointy." He eyed some of the arrows higher up, which looked a lot more like proper arrows. "No idea what would happen if you actually shot one of these dull ones at a person, but they can pierce the targets fine."

"We'll need to make sure to tell Homura about this place," said Isao. "Even if they aren't guns, having something to shoot in a safe place will probably cheer her up."

"I guess…" Gorou turned to examine some of the bows.

Slowly, Shiori made her way over beside him and picked up one of the smaller bows, turning it over in her hands. She tested the string, then picked up a few arrows that looked the right size. She turned to Gorou. "Wanna try and shoot some? I've never done it before, and I think it'll be a little less awkward for both of us if we both do it…?"

He sort of just looked at her for a second, then he snatched the bow he'd been looking at along with an arrow. They both stepped up to the edge of the shelter. Shiori struggled for a few seconds, but eventually set the arrow in the bow and drew back the string. _Thank goodness that fantasy manga heroines always use bows._ She took a slow breath, took aim at one of the targets with only slightly trembling hands, then let the arrow go. It flew through the air and hit the target; it hit way to the left of where she'd been aiming, but it did hit.

She smiled and glanced at Gorou as he shot his own arrow. It hit a little closer to the center than hers. "Good job, Gorou!"

Behind them she heard Isao and Kashie clap, and to the side she saw Kenji give them a little thumbs up.

Gorou looked at them, shocked, or maybe perplexed; Shiori wasn't sure. But he slowly lowered the bow. "It wasn't that great."

Shiori shook her head. "Honestly though, these bows are hard to use! They're the more traditional kind, rather than a compound bow; it took some doing to get the string back. And hey, we're beginners, so even hitting something is better than nothing."

"I…don't even know if I could use these," added Kashie. "I've never been super…coordinated…"

Now Shiori was sure Gorou was confused. He just sort of shuffled his feet. Shiori giggled. "C'mon. I don't think there's much left explore, so how about we head back to the mess hall?"

Shiori put the bow back and began to leave, but turned back to make sure Kenji and Gorou were following. Kenji hung right behind Kashie, but Gorou still stood where he'd shot the arrow. Shiori waved him over. "Gorou, you coming with?"

After a pause, Gorou said, "Uh…sure." He put down the bow and jogged over to join them. With that they began walking back.

The trip back to the mess hall was quiet. Shiori did make sure to let Gorou and Kenji know about the zip-line tower and the barn, but otherwise no one said a word until they reached the mess hall. When they entered, they saw Kokoa, Akiko, and Mr. Saiki at one table. Akiko seemed to be chewing something, deep in thought. Kokoa watched her, with a hint of eagerness on her face and her cookbook on the table in front of her. _Akiko must be trying one of her chocolates…And it seems like she likes it?_

"I think you're onto something, Coco," said Akiko as they approached, "The sourness of the lemon and the creaminess of the chocolate is a cool contrast; you could probably go a bit sweeter, but not too much. You thought of incorporating any other flavors?"

Kokoa wrote a little note in her cookbook. "At first I thought of grapefruit, but I want something more unexpected! There's already a citrus filled chocolate at the shop…"

"Maybe some other fruit?" Mr. Saiki asked.

"No! I mean really unexpected! It needs to be unique; something no one else has thought of."

Shiori stepped up and said, "Kokoa, I didn't know you had your own shop! That's really amazing!"

Kokoa stopped smiling. "It's not really mine; it belongs to my grandparents. Most of what we sell are my grandma's recipes. But I want to make something new."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck!" Shiori turned to Mr. Saiki. "Mr. Saiki, you mentioned food before on the intercom?"

Mr. Saiki perked up. "We have some leftover onigiri from yesterday."

"Did you make more?" Gorou asked. "We only made like, twenty of them."

Shiori gasped, eyes sparkling. "Gorou! Did you help Mr. Saiki make the onigiri?"

Gorou blushed. "I…whatever; I'm getting food." He turned from the group and went into the kitchen.

Shiori bit her lip, absently picking up one of the onigiri on the table. _Oh, I embarrassed him…Okay, you can come back from this Shiori, you just need to be…chill about it._ She remained lost in thought as everyone around continued chit-chatting. A shake on her arm brought her out of her own thoughts. She looked up and saw Kashie leaning over her. "Shiori…? Basically everyone's, uh, left…Isao said he wanted to meet up later at the tower, but uh, he wanted to practice alone a bit first. Are you just gonna…stay here, or…?"

Shiori pondered that for a second. "Did you see where Gorou went?"

"He's uh…still in the kitchen. Kokoa was there for a bit too, but Akiko dragged her off to do uh, something…?"

An idea forming in her mind, Shiori said, "I think I'll hang out here for a bit; do some writing. When did Isao want to meet?" Kashie told her, then headed out. Shiori smiled to herself when she saw that Kashie was walking a bit taller than she had a few days ago. _She's starting to come out of her shell._

Shiori pulled out her Monopad and went into the kitchen. She saw Gorou standing by a big pot on the stove, but he immediately turned when he heard the door.

 _Okay, just stay cool._ "Hey Gorou! Mind if I just sit in here and write a bit?"

Gorou gave her a strange look, but eventually said. "Sure, go ahead."

* * *

 _For some time they started silent, Shiori writing in one corner and Gorou stirring the pot. Shiori sniffed and got a pleasant whiff of what Gorou was cooking._

SHIORI: Mmm, that smells so good! What are you making?

GOROU: Uh, it's just nabemono; I figured it'd be easier to make in a big batch, and there were leftover vegetables from other people's meals…

SHIORI: Oh, I love a good hot pot! It reminds me of home. My mom makes a nice chicken one in the winter. I bet yours will be great! Where'd you learn?

GOROU: …it's not— I mean, I'm not that good of a cook. I just needed know how to make stuff, or I'd end up living off instant food.

SHIORI: _That…does not sound like someone who learned to cook just for fun…but do I ask him about it?_

[Why didn't your parents cook for you?]

[What does 'needed to know' mean, huh!?]

 _[Was it hard to learn to cook?]_

SHIORI: Was it hard, learning to cook for yourself?

GOROU: Nah; I had the internet. Learning to budget was way harder.

SHIORI: Um…why did you have to learn these things? You don't have to tell me, if it's too personal or anything but uh…it just makes me sad that you had to grow up so fast, and it sounds like you didn't have a choice…

 _There was a long silence, and Shiori thought she wouldn't get an answer, but then..._

GOROU: I…don't exactly alone, per say, but for all intents and purposes I've had to fend for myself.

SHIORI: Oh…well, at least here we don't have to worry about food! Even those of us who can't cook. We've got Mr. Saiki, and Kokoa…and also you! If uh, you're willing to share?

GOROU: …Maybe. It's not like I could eat all this in one sitting by myself anyway.

* * *

They lapsed into silence again, but it felt less awkward; now they simply took in being in the same space. Out of the blue, Gorou asked, "What are you writing?"

Shiori hesitated. "Oh, it's…an elegy. For Haruto and uh…and Hideyo." She gulped. "I just…I still have a lot of feelings about what happened so I'm just, trying to write it out? I used to do that a lot, but I haven't needed to in a while…" _Because I was always so happy writing stuff for my stories and followers…which is a plus. Oh gosh, what are my followers thinking right now? I just disappeared and they have no idea why…Well, my real life friends who follow me will know I'm missing…right? Of course they'd know…_

Gorou turned back to the hot pot. "I think I get it. There were definitely sometimes I just wanted to…scream into the void, or whatever."

"Oh yeah, this is basically that. I have no idea where I'm going with this…but hey! I can think about yesterday without immediately crying! So that's a plus."

Gorou gave her a strange look, then laughed, just a bit. "How are you so perky? Do you live off sugar and optimism?"

Shiori grinned. "I am a proud proponent of the sugar-and-optimism diet! In fact, once I got a email asking me to be a paid sponsor! I'm an influencer, Gorou."

"Oh my god, stop." But Gorou had a hint of smile at the corner of his lips.

 _Success!_ Shiori thought. Then she looked at her Monopad and jumped up. "Oh, shoot! I'm supposed to meet with Kashie and Isao! I'll catch you later, Gorou!" Shoving her tablet back into her pocket, she ran out of the kitchen.

At a full sprint which quickly transitioned into a jog, Shiori made it to the tower. Breathing heavily as she climbed the stairs, she finally reached the top. "I'm here!"

Isao and Kashie sat on the floor of the tower. Isao looked up at her as she sat down beside them. "You're fine! This isn't a formal thing anyway."

"So what is this then? Kashie only said you meet up."

Isao straightened up a bit. "I just…wanted to check in with you both, after yesterday…it kind of feels like we bonded, with the whole heart to heart thing? I could be wrong though, if you'd rather not talk that's fine."

"No!" said Shiori. "I definitely feel close to you guys. You're both wonderful; you're kind and supportive and let me cry on you and…"

Shiori stopped: Kashie was hiding her face in her hood, and Isao was blushing, wide eyed. She backpedalled. "Oh gosh, was that too intense? I'm sorry, but I do really think of you as my closest friends here…"

Isao look around, still a bit embarrassed. "You're not too intense…I just uh— I'm not used to such…enthusiastic compliments."

Kashie peeked out of her hood. "I…I've been really inspired by you, Shiori. I uh, want to be a good friend to you."

"Oh…Kashie!" Shiori gave Kashie a big hug. Then she eyed Isao. "You get in here too! Group hug!" Isao shuffled over to join the hug. Shiori gave them one last squeeze before releasing them. "Okay, so are we doing the whole check in thing? I'm definitely feeling better than yesterday. I did some free writing to sort of uh, clear my thoughts, and that helped."

"I'm glad you're doing better," said Isao. "I'm...okay-ish, I think. It's less raw now, and now it's more just sort of…disappointment? I didn't want to think it was possible one of us would actually…kill someone, but…Anyway, I guess I'm still trying to process what that means for us…"

Kashie spoke next. "I'm…less sad than before, but honestly I…I'm scared. Scared of what Monokuma might say next to, to get one of us kill again; scared of being hurt, scared of _you two_ being hurt…"

Shiori pondered that, then suggested, "In the worse case scenario, if we stick together with a few other people when possible, it's less likely someone looking to kill will target us, because of witnesses. But! I think what's more important is if Monokuma comes up with a new motive, we have to counter it! If we can stop the motive from working, no one will kill for it. You guys with me?" They both nodded. She smiled. "Great! And Isao, I have an idea that could also help. What if we invite other people to these talks? I know we have Mr. Saiki, and that we all trust him, but I don't think all the others do, so having a place to talk just amongst us might appeal to some people."

"Sure, I don't mind. I'm just not sure who would want to right now, but that's no reason not to give the others the option."

Kashie fiddled with the tie of her coat. "Um, Shiori? What was it that you were doing in the mess hall before you came here? I, uh, I know you said you were writing, but I saw you go in the kitchen…?

"You got me," Shiori said. "I was talking with Gorou, and I think I made some progress! Honestly, he just seems really lonely, but doesn't know how to trust people. So we just gotta take it slow."

"So when do we tell everyone about these meetings?" asked Isao. "And how often should they be?"

"Tonight at dinner, maybe? And I think we should meet every other day, for uh, however long it takes for someone to find us."

"That works for me," said Isao.

"Me too," Kashie added.

Shiori jumped up. "Awesome! Then if there is nothing else that needs to be discussed, I declare the Feelings Meeting adjourned!"

The three climbed down the stairs and began walking back towards the cabins. However, as they reached them, Akiko jumped out in front of them and grabbed Shiori's arm. "I'm just gonna borrow her for a bit, 'kay?" And then Akiko was leading Shiori away.

"Um, see you guys later I guess?" Shiori called out behind her, then turned to Akiko. "You could have just asked me to hang out."

Akiko held up a finger in a 'shushing' gesture. "Not now; time is of the essence."

"Uh, okay then? Hang out time!"

* * *

 _In a whirl of motion, Shiori and Akiko ended up the woods behind the mess hall. Akiko dumped out a bag of spray paint cans._

AKIKO: Okay Bubbly, here's the plan; I checked, and even though there is a camera that can see us back here, it _can't_ see what's on the wall. So…time for graffiti!

SHIORI: Oh! Right, I remember you mentioning doing something like this…Are you sure though? We could still get in trouble.

AKIKO: Nah, it'll be fine. There's enough leeway in the way the rules are written we can get away with it, and if Monokuma's still mad and makes Teach punish us, he'll go easy 'cause he likes you.

SHIORI: I mean, we can't necessarily be sure of that!

AKIKO: Come on! It's not like we're hurting anyone. It'll be fun!

SHIORI: Uh…

SHIORI: _She does make a good point..._

[I don't wanna take the risk…]

[But I suck at drawing!]

 _[Woohoo graffiti!]_

SHIORI: You know what? Sure! Woo, graffiti!

AKIKO: Now we're talking!

 _They spent some time creating a mural on the wall. Akiko drew Monokuma locked up in a cage being punctured by spikes, and Shiori drew everyone else holding hands and declaring their friendship. Or at least she tried to; she couldn't get a good grip on the can._

AKIKO: Wow, you are struggling. Okay, maybe try both hands, since yours are so tiny.

SHIORI: Thanks. So uh, where do you learn how to do this?

AKIKO: Eh, just picked it up I guess. No one like, taught me exactly. Just watched some tutorials online, then got bored and decided to try it. Didn't do it a lot, but it comes in handy as a warning to people to stay away from my spots.

SHIORI: Wait, you have 'spots'? Are you a secret gangster or delinquent or something?

AKIKO: Or something! Just need some places to chill that aren't at home, and I ain't letting a 'no trespassing' sign stop me.

SHIORI: Oh…

SHIORI: _Akiko is a lot more dismissive of authority that I thought, if she doesn't care about trespassing or graffiti…_

SHIORI: Is your house too small to hang out in? My apartment barely has enough room for me and my parents, so…

AKIKO: Doesn't matter. Shit just sucks there, so I don't stay when I don't have to.

SHIORI: Oh...I'm sorry.

AKIKO: Don't be; I got that shit handled. Let's finish this masterpiece!

* * *

Eventually the mural was done. Akiko wiped a bit of paint from her hands. "Good job!"

Shiori stretched out her hands a bit. "That was a bit tiring, but I think it turned out pretty good!"

"Nice! High five!" They high-fived. Then Akiko started gathering the paint cans.

As Shiori kneeled down to help, she asked, "So what else did you do today? You and Kokoa seemed to be getting along."

"Yeah. She's pretty cool. I helped her with her chocolate for a bit, but then I was getting bored so we actually painted a couple trees out in a patch of the woods I found."

"I'm glad you're making friends."

"Thanks. I know I'm…not quick to make friends. But honestly, I am with you 'til the end, so if anyone's messing with you, you let me know, okay? I'll kick their ass."

Shiori gave a slightly nervous laugh. "Hehe, no need for that! But I appreciate the sentiment. It's getting late; how about we go get some dinner?"

They walked around to the front of the mess hall and went inside. They drifted to their own tables; Akiko with Kokoa, and Shiori with Isao and Kashie. Glancing around, she saw that Karen and Rika sat together, as did Remy and Kenji and the 'Lil' Hotshots.' Gorou stood with Mr. Saiki, helping dish out bowls of his nabemono. Ikeda was on his way out.

Quickly she turned to the group. "Hey everyone? Before anyone leaves, I have an announcement. Isao, Kashie and I thought it might be a good idea to meet every couple of days just to check in, and give people a chance to talk about how they're feeling if they want to. And uh, sorry Mr. Saiki, but we thought this could be a uh, campers only thing? We were gonna meet in the tower, day after tomorrow?"

Mr. Saiki nodded at her, smiling. "I think a student run group is a great idea. The more ways you all have of dealing with the situation, the better."

A wave of murmuring swept the room. Shiori saw some people nodding, but then her eyes fell on Take and his expression seemed strange. He had his normal smirk, but something seemed different in his eyes. Suddenly, he stood up. Shiori gulped.

"Well, I also have an announcement. The barn, as y'all have noticed, is now open. And it's now the official headquarters of the Lil' Hotshots! So if you need something in the barn, just let us know and we'll be happy to let you in. And hey, if you wanna join us, you'll get some sweet stuff. Show 'em Homura."

Homura stood up and held up a little carved wooden pendant around her neck. "We have matching necklaces! And they have little worms on them!"

"That's a snake," Remy pointed out.

"Yeah, we know, dude," snapped Take. "And you don't get to change your mind now that we have squad loot. You had your chance."

Remy's expression didn't really change, but he still looked away, back to his camera in his lap.

Take went back to looking around at everyone. "Well? Come on, this is an once in a lifetime opportunity! Getting to be in a group with the Penultimate Bandit!"

Kenji figgited in his seat, but said nothing. Rika seemed a bit excited by the necklace, but when she saw Karen's frown she went back to her food. Gorou looked at Take incredulously. Akiko openly glared at him. Ikeda didn't even look at him, simply heading out the door.

Take shrugged. "Fine. Have it your way; just know you're missing out."

Mr. Saiki gave him a concerned look. "Take, I hope you're not implying you won't let people you aren't in your club into the barn; it's a building for everyone."

"No way, Teach! I would never!" Take put a hand over his heart with a flourish. "Frankly, I am hurt you would think I would even consider such a thing!"

"Alright, alright." Mr. Saiki raised his hands in defeat. "I apologize."

The rest of dinner passed pleasantly, with cheerful small talk all around. As people finished eating they trickled out of the building, until it was just Shiori, Isao, Kashie, Gorou, and Mr. Saiki. By then, Shiori was yawning more than she was talking.

"Shiori, if you're tired, go back to your cabin," Isao said as she yawned again.

"But I want to…help with cleaning up," Shiori protested.

Mr. Saiki gave her a small reassure wave of his hand. "Don't worry about that. I've got enough help for that. It's been a long day; go sleep."

After a moment, Shiori relented. She waved to everyone as she left. She smiled when she saw Gorou and Kashie talking. _My friends are also friends! This is awesome._ She almost skipped as she walked. _This has honestly been a really good day! New areas to explore, new friendships growing, and a plan to keep us together. Hopefully we can keep it up._

Finally she reached the cabins, but just as she turned to go to her cabin, she caught a glimpse of Ikeda leaning against the side of his own cabin. She gave him a little nod, but started a bit when he walked over. "Hey, Ikeda. Did you, uh, want to talk about something?"

He gave the faintest hint of a smile. "In a way, I suppose. I have a question."

She bit her lip. "Uh, sure? Ask away."

"You seem very eager to get us all to bond and what not. These meetings you've proposed, for instance." Suddenly his expression went blank. "What is your goal with that?"

"Um…for everyone to be friends? And feel comfortable talking about how they're feeling if they want to?" Shiori frowned. _Maybe he wants the pragmatic side._ "Doesn't it make sense? If we are friends, then Monokuma's plots to get us to kill each other will be less effective. Plus, it'll be nice? For us to be friends?"

"I don't think you've thought through the other possible repercussions of your plan." Ikeda took a step closer. Shiori felt herself sweating. "Sure, being friends means motives that promote just picking a target at random in order to escape are somewhat less likely to work, but what about a motive that plays us against each other? That plays on rivalries, or affections?"

"But if we bond we won't want to hurt each other!" Shiori shouted.

Ikeda laughed bitterly. "You really don't understand anything. You know what one of the most powerful motivations to hurt someone is? Betrayal. And you can't have betrayal without camaraderie. Surely you should know that."

"I don't know what you mean," Shiori said, trying to keep her voice even. "But I'm not in the mood to debate this with you right now. I'm going to bed."

She turned to open her cabin door, but Ikeda grabbed her arm. "You can't just ignore this. It's gonna get you hurt. It already has!"

Shiori took a breath. "Look, I don't know what your point is with all this? But I'm not ignoring what happened. I'm trying to move past it, but also learn from it. And frankly, I'd rather risk being hurt again if something happens to one of my friends than just hiding away from everyone. If you want to talk about this more, find me tomorrow. I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She pulls her arm out of his grasp and quickly went through the door and shut it behind her.

After a tense moment of leaning against the door, Shiori sighed. And then Homura was suddenly in front of her, right in her face. "Are you okay? I heard you and Ikeda shouting and holy crap he was being creepy!"

"Ah! Geez, Homura, I'm fine."

Homura took a step back, but kept talking. "Oh good. I'm glad he didn't hurt you. Was he like, waiting for you to come back? That's like, majorly stalker-y behavior."

Shiori went over to bed and sat down with a slight thump. "He just wanted to talk, but you know Ikeda; he's always very…intense."

Homura began pacing. "That was more than intense; I have a good sense for these things, and that was definitely in the creep zone! Him getting so close and shout-y and— Oh. Oh no. What if he actually starts stalking you?" She rushed over to Shiori and took her hands. "I promise I will stop him if he ever crosses the line."

Shiori leaned away a bit. _Speaking of intense…_ "I appreciate that, but seriously, I'm fine. I don't think he'll try anything. Now, I'm actually kind of tired, so uh, goodnight?"

Homura froze for a second, then she jumped back. "Oh! Right, right. Night, Shiori." She went over to the light switch and turned it off.

Shiori kicked off her shoes in the darkness and got right under the covers without taking her clothes off. She was too exhausted to care.

* * *

The next morning, Shiori almost slept through the morning announcement. She would have if Homura hadn't shaken her awake. "Shiori, something's going on! Monokuma said there was a special announcement."

Shiori sat up, stretching a bit to wake herself up. "What…?"

Then she heard Monokuma's booming voice. "Everyone needs to meet at the mess hall in five minutes! I will accept no excuses, so get moving!"

 _Well, at least I don't have to get dressed,_ Shiori thought as she fixed her hair and headed over to the mess hall. _But what is going on? Were there open places we missed yesterday he wants us to find? Or…crap, what if it's another motive?_

When she reached the mess hall, Shiori immediately went over to Isao and Kashie . "I missed the first part of the announcement; what's going on?"

"We, we don't know…" said Kashie, her voice shaking a bit. "But I have a bad feeling…"

Isao put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Remember, we can get through this together."

He smiled, but Shiori caught his knees trembling ever so slightly. _Everything feels more real, now that Monokuma has actually gotten one of us to…_ She took a breath, but her heart was pounding.

Once everyone had arrived, Monokuma dropped down in his usual fashion. _Is it strange that I'm getting used to that?_ "Upupu! Good morning campers! I hope you enjoyed your day off, because it's time for another motive!"

A strange combinations of groans and concerned hums filled the room. She noticed that Mr. Saiki looked extra concerned right away. _It was like that last time too…does Monokuma even tell him the motives before revealing them?_ She also saw Ikeda deep in thought, completely unfazed. She turned away.

Gorou stepped up. "If we're gonna do this again, can we at least cut to the chase, instead drawing everything out?"

"Nope!" said Monokuma gleefully. "I'm in charge, and so you have to listen to my explanation! And besides, this motive is a bit more…complicated than last time."

Gorou deflated slightly, but continued glaring.

Monokuma rubbed his paws together. "Now then! Mr. Saiki, the curtain!"

Mr. Saiki made his way backstage to pull back the curtain. He was frowning, but just a bit. Shiori couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit relieved at that. _Mr. Saiki really is on our side._

"So campers, I have realized despite being in a camp, none of you have done any of the classic camp activities! No nature walks, no art and crafts, no crazy late night escapades! None of it!" Just then the curtain behind Monokuma finally opened all the way, revealing a glass bowl filled with bits of paper in it on a stand. "And since some of you seem so keen on 'bonding,' I say it's time for a classic bonding game; Never Have I Ever!"

Most of the others looked confused, but Remy just said, "That game where you see who's done what silly things? But why the bowl of paper?"

Shiori nodded at Remy's comment. _It does make sense he'd know about this game more than some of the others; it's more common in America._

"Well, there is a bit more to it than that in Monokuma Edition!" Monokuma waddled over to the bowl on the stand as he explained. "For those of you who don't know, in 'Never Have I Ever,' everyone holds up one open hand. Then, going in a circle, each person says 'Never have I ever…' and finishes with something they have never done. If someone else in the circle _has_ done that thing, they have to put a finger down. If by the end you've lost all your fingers, you loose! As for the bowl, I have no idea what you kids would even ask each other! No way of knowing if we'll ever get something really juicy!" Monokuma chuckled. "Upupu! So I made a bunch of scenarios myself! Each one is true for at least one of you, so it's sure to be interesting!"

Ikeda raised his hand. "And just to be clear, this is not optional?"

"Correct! In fact, you have to stay here until we've finished the game!"

Shiori jumped at a sudden thunking noise behind her. Everyone turned, and Karen, who was closest to the door outside, tried to open it, but found it locked.

"Alright everyone, get your butts up on stage! I have a bit more to explain before we get started." Cautiously the group made its way up on stage and formed a circle as Monokuma continued. "You'll each take turns picking a paper from the bowl and reading it out loud. Now, if you pick something you actually have done, put the slip back and pick a new one."

Mr. Saiki came and stood near the circle of students. "What about the last person? By then, they may be stuck with something they have done."

"Well, sucks to be them! That's how we're doing it! And speaking of the end, when the game is done, I will announce one final twist! Let's just say, some of you will be having a bad time, depending on how the game goes…Now then, there's just one more thing I need to mention." Suddenly Monokuma pointed at Mr. Saiki. "Since you're the guidance counselor, it's important for you to bond with the campers, right?"

Mr. Saiki gulped. "Yes…?"

Monokuma's red eye glinted. "So you'll be playing too!"

* * *

 _Oh no, a cliffhanger! Sorry to leave it on that note, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it was worth the wait. I'm very excited for this motive and this next chapter. As mentioned before, there will be a poll to see who Reijirou will spend time with next chapter, so please vote on that. And as a reminder, if there are any ties, and one of the characters is one Shiori has had Freetime with, I'll choose the other one, for the sack of variety. On a different note, there is a Discord server for Penultimates now! If you'd like to join, send me a PM and I'll give you the invite code. It's very chill, just for fun little discussions and chatting. As always, please feel free to review and give me your thoughts! Until next time!_


	13. Chapter 2 (part 2)

_CW: Mentions of the concept of self harm, implied child abuse, and outing of an lgbtq+ person._

 _Hey guys. I don't usually have a note at the beginning of the chapter, but I want you guys to know that this chapter is gonna be a bit heavy. If you need to step away, please do. It's important to pace yourself. Okay, on to the chapter!_

* * *

For a second, Reijirou couldn't breathe, couldn't move. "I… Excuse me?"

Monokuma scoffed. "Come on! It's not _that_ hard to understand! You're gonna be in the game too! Now get in the circle so we can get started!"

Making his way to the circle in a daze, Reijirou could only wonder, _Why? What is Monokuma getting out of this?_ This motive unsettled him even more than the last one. He could tell from the way the students were shuffling their feet and glancing around they were uncomfortable too. _And why not?_ He reasoned. _This group seems to be so private, even the friendlier ones. God, why did I mention secrets to Monokuma? Why didn't I lie? Do I lie during the game?_

Taking the space beside Shiori, he shook his head a little. _No, I need to be open with them, so they'll be open with each other. Plus, if I lie, they'll have even less of an incentive to trust me._

With everyone assembled, Monokuma chuckled, "Alright, let the bonding begin!" Then he left the circle with a wave. "As a sign of good faith, I won't even say anything during the game unless there's a question about the rules! Now, get going!"

Everyone raised one hand with all five fingers up, but then no one moved towards the bowl.

"So, uh, who wants to go first?" asked Shiori.

"The one who asks always goes first!" said Take.

Shiori gulped, but replied, "That's… fine! It'll be fine!"

"And I can be last," Reijirou said, finally regaining his composure. "I don't mind having the last draw." _Then you all have more choices over what you read…_

Shiori took a breath, then stepped up to the bowl and grabbed a slip. She unfolded it, read it, then sighed in relief. "Never have I ever lived alone."

 _Welp, there goes one,_ Reijirou thought as he put down a finger. None of the students seemed surprised by that, so he didn't explain. Glancing around the circle, he saw that Gorou and Ikeda had also put down fingers.

Take grinned. "Alright, now's the fun part! Why you two live alone?"

"I don't think it's any of your business," said Ikeda, "And Monokuma said nothing about having to explain ourselves, so I won't."

"Yeah," Gorou added. "I ain't explaining shit unless I have to."

"But we can guess, right?" said Take. "Knowing how broody you two are, I'm guessing…You're both orphans! ...No! How about... Left by your parents to live in a crummy apartment that they pay for!"

"Now you're just being rude!" Karen huffed.

"Yeah!" Rika chimed in.

Seihiko looked puzzled. "Wait, Take, you've never lived alone? I thought…"

"Well you thought wrong, Buddy! After I struck out on my own, I found my gang right away. Never needed to have my own pad. I guess Mr. Interrogator could have just struck out on his own, given his frankly weird-ass job, but why would Frosty live alone?"

Gorou looked ready to tackle Take.

Homura put an arm on Take's shoulder. "Okay, you guessed! Let's move on?"

Isao took that as a cue to get a slip. Upon opening it, his face went pale. He carefully re-folded the paper and took a new one. Isaogulped before reading out, "Never have I ever had a rivalry with someone that reached the point of hatred, and / or, uh… violence."

Reijirou ran a hand through his hair. _Oh God… Really? This is going to be so bad…_ This time, Take, Homura, and Seihiko put down fingers.

Take crowed in delight. "Look at that! The Lil' Hotshots all got some fight in them! Spill, how hard did you beat their asses?"

"Uh, not at all?" Homura admitted sheepishly. "I actually lost to them in a big riflery competition recently. I thought we were cool, but, uh… the feeling isn't mutual."

Seihiko frowned and looked at the ground. "Same boat really. I don't usually beat him."

"What? Oh, no way am I letting that stand!" Take pointed up dramatically. "Once we get out of here, we're making sure you get back at them, got it?"

Homura gave a strained laugh. "Sure, Take." Then she began rubbing at her wrist, right around the edge of her cast.

Seihiko didn't say anything at all; he just continued staring at the ground.

"This is going to take forever at this rate!" said Gorou. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed a slip and read it. "Never have I ever been in financial debt."

Reijirou prepared himself as he put down a finger. Shiori glanced at him, mouth beginning to open to say something, but closing a second later.

Akiko seemed to have no reservations about asking him. "Oh boy! Did Teach get in bad with the some loan sharks or something?"

"Nothing like that," he reassured them. "I've had to take out some loans for school, is all. I'm not really in financial trouble; I have jobs to pay it off."

"And why did you need loans for school?" asked Ikeda.

 _Of course you'd ask that._ He searched for the right words. "I… Well, my family went through a… rough patch my senior year of high school, so we had to dip into my school fund. It's pretty much resolved now." _Mom is still recovering, but at least we have a handle on the payments now… I hope she'll be okay while I'm gone…_

Ikeda gave him a look that said, 'I know there's more to it,' but he didn't press any further. Reijirou was thankful, but only a bit. _Maybe he's saving it for when everyone else isn't around._

"Wow, now my story seems stupid," said Akiko. Reijirou only noticed then that she'd put down a finger. "Just bought shit I didn't have money for."

"Something… _unsavory,_ I'm sure," muttered Karen.

Akiko raised an eyebrow. "Do you wanna repeat that?"

Karen took a moment to look at Akiko's dark expression, then turned away.

Realizing it was now her turn, Kashie gave a small small squeak. She grabbed a slip, paused, then said, "N-never have I ever… been jealous of a sibling."

For a second, no one moved. Then Gorou gave a small huff and put down a second finger. Before anyone could ask he said, "I have four older brothers; 'course I got jealous of their crap as a kid. It's not important."

Kokoa glanced around the circle. "No one else? I thought everyone who had siblings got jealous once in a while. Who else even has siblings?"

"This question is ambiguous," said Remy. "Does that sort of… petty envy count?"

Monokuma poked his head into the circle between Shiori and Isao. "It counts if it still affects you! If it had a lasting impact on your relationship! And, as a general rule of thumb? If you think a question _could_ apply to you? Put down a finger!"

"Eh, then mine doesn't count," said Akiko. "My sister and I get along great now."

Isao stiffened a bit, but didn't say anything.

Shiori frowned. "Does that mean Gorou can get a finger back?"

"Nope!" said Monokuma. "No take-backsies!" Then, he ducked back out of the circle again.

"Oo! It's my turn!" said Rika, bouncing on her heels. She almost skipped over to the bowl to pick a slip. But once she read it, she stopped bouncing. She looks around at everyone, then back down at the slip. "This… this can't be right…? This… no one here can feel like this, right?"

"Monokuma said every slip applies to at least one of us," said Ikeda, giving her a harsh look. "Believe it or not. Just read it."

Rika still frowned, but carefully she read, "Never have I ever hated or been afraid of my parents."

 _Shit. This could get really_ _bad._ Reijirou immediately scanned the group. Everyone held various expressions of shock or dismay; Shiori looked about ready to cry, as did Kashie. Isao seemed to in a daze. Reijirou cleared his throat. _Monokuma might hate me for this, but—_

"I'll take this as an opportunity to remind everyone that you do _not_ have to elaborate on any of these answers here."

"Heh, thanks for that, Teach." Reijirou turned to Akiko as she spoke, and almost gasped as she put down another finger. She smiled darkly. "'Cause that's all some of y'all are ever getting on that subject."

Everyone stared at Akiko. Some, like Ikeda and Take, didn't seem surprised. Kokoa bit her lip and played anxiously with the edge of her apron. Hurt covered Shiori's features, but she didn't say anything. Kashie and Isao still looked troubled. Rika had already returned to her spot and clung to Karen's sleeve. What surprised Reijirou more was Karen's expression. She looked concerned at Rika's state, giving her a hesitant pat before removing Rika's grip on her sleeve.

Face once again neutral, Karen took a slip, read it, then returned it to get a new one. Upon reading the new one, she sighed in exasperation. "Monokuma, you are truly… pugnacious _,_ to include such questions."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'repugnant!'" Monokuma corrected. "And, thank you! That's the point."

Karen's eye twitched, but she read the slip. "Never have I ever gotten someone hurt when I didn't mean to."

Once again, Akiko put down a finger. "Wow, it's almost as if someone designed these questions with me in mind!" she said sarcastically.

Remy also put down a finger. He looked troubled, but that didn't stop Take. "Aw, did you forget to turn off the flash on that precious camera and blind someone?"

"No," Remy replied. "... Nothing that permanent." He went silent, and it seemed that was all he was going to say on the subject.

Shiori hesitated for a moment, then put down a finger. When she saw Reijirou looking at her, she whispered, "I know you said it wasn't my fault but…"

 _She still blames herself for Haruto and Hideyo…_ He realized. _We might need to talk about that… who am I kidding? I need to talk to all of these kids, if they'd let me…_

Ikeda also saw Shiori put down a finger, and something passed across his features Reijirou couldn't place. But before he could consider the implication of that, Ikeda walked up to the bowl for a slip. "Never have I ever lied about my sexuality," he read.

That question brought shuffling of feet and awkward glances. Some, like Kashie and Seihiko, blushed bright red. Rika looked a touch confused. Kenji looked absolutely mortified.

Eventually, Homura coughed, and put down a finger. "I'm still figuring things out, honestly," she clarified, "But, like… I know I haven't always been honest about my, uh… feelings."

"It's okay," said Seihiko, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's hard to figure it out, even nowadays. It took me forever to actually realize I…"

He trailed off. He cleared his throat and removed his hand.

Take smirked, but just a bit. "Look at that! We're a proper little gay family!"

Kenji started. "Wait, so you're—"

"Are we all coming out now or something?" Akiko asked.

"C-can we not?" Kashie stammered.

"So much for hurrying up," muttered Kokoa.

Reijirou spoke up. "Okay! If people wanna share that's awesome, but maybe when we're finished with this?" _That could have gone a lot worse..._

Rubbing his hands together, Take stepped forward. "Sure, 'cause now it's my turn to make us all feel awkward." It took him two tries before he got a slip he kept. Finally, he read flatly, "Never have I ever deliberately hurt myself or let someone else hurt me."

Reijirou felt the angry fire at this situation rekindle in his stomach. _Monokuma, I'm gonna murder you._

Shiori echoed his thoughts. "Seriously, Monokuma?"

Monokuma put on a fake-shocked face— well, as much as he could, considering. "What? You didn't think I'd go there?"

Gorou looked about ready to kill the bear as well, but stayed silent.

"Not necessarily," said Isao, "But just by including that question with the rules you laid out, you're telling us one of us has—"

"Sorry!" Homura interrupted. "This one might be my bad, guys." She put down a third finger and waved her injured arm.

Shiori looked at her. "Wait, are you saying…?"

Gorou stared, slack-jawed, and Take frowned. Seihiko gave her a nervous look.

Homura put on a shaky smile. "But, it all turned out all right in the end. Gosh, the last few questions haven't been good for me, eh? Anyway, let's continue!" As the next person in the circle, she retrieved a slip. "Okay, something less awful maybe…? Nope. Well, less awful, more sad. Never have I ever missed the chance to say goodbye to someone I care about."

Somehow, Reijirou almost found this question a relief. Almost.

This time, two students put down fingers: Gorou and Kokoa. Akiko gave Kokoa a sympathetic look, which she returned in kind. Shiori tried to give Gorou a similar look, but he just scowled and shoved the hand he wasn't using for the game into his pocket.

No one seemed interested in prying further (perhaps Take didn't feel it was interesting enough to pursue), so without further comment, Seihiko took his turn. "Never have I ever cheated to get what I wanted."

Take shrugged and put down a finger, but Akiko swore as she put down hers. "No one else is even close to losing, and I'm already down to my last finger? Cheap shot, Monokuma."

Monokuma didn't even answer. He was looking at everyone else with a growing smile on his face. Everyone tried to ignore him, although Reijirou could see Isao, Kashie, and Kenji squirming. _They've been especially nervous for a few minutes now. What happened?_ The thought he tried to ignore was, _What if one of them lied? If they did, why did Monokuma let them?_

Having failed to ignore his own growing unease, he watched Kokoa take her turn. "Never have I ever cried in public."

For a second it was silent, then Take snorted. "Well, that's a mood shift."

"You can say that again," Akiko added.

Soon, small chuckles went around the circle. Reijirou smiled at that, and put down his third finger.

"Really, Mr. Saiki?" said Shiori. "I know I'm a crybaby, but _you?"_ He saw then she'd put down a finger too.

He actually laughed at that. "It was a while ago, but yes. Call me a wimp, but I can deal with it."

"We'll be the wimp club!" Shiori cheered.

"Does that have to be the name?" asked Seihiko, whom Reijirou saw also put down a second finger.

"Well, I guess not, but if you wanna rename it you gotta join. It'll be you, me, Mr. Saiki, Kenji, and Kashie!"

Kashie blushed at her first lost finger being pointed out to everyone, but she seemed more at ease now. Kenji covered his face with his hands to hide his own blushing.

"I know it's embarrassing to cry in public," said Reijirou, "But sometimes things happen and you can't get to a private place in time. It's better to start crying and then find a private space to calm down than to hold it in for too long." _Found that out the hard way when I cried for an hour in the kitchen day before last…_

Cracking her knuckles, Akiko said, "Alright, we're in the final stretch, so let's finish this shit up." Even though only a few slips remained, Akiko had to put the first slip that she picked back, scowling as she did so. Upon reading her second slip, she said, "Never have I ever had a family member in the hospital."

 _And that makes three,_ Reijirou thought as he lost another finger. None of the other students seemed to biting at the bit to know the story, but he did lean over to Shiori and her group and whispered, "My mom. She's in recovery now, but it was… _tense_ for a while."

Back with everyone else, Kokoa and Karen had put down fingers. Karen gave Take a look and said, "If you attempt to… rassle me about this, I might have to break my vow against using my jujutsu."

"Well now I might have to, just to see you in action," said Take.

Rika stepped in front of Karen and crossed her arms. "If you do, you'll have to fight me too!"

"I'd back off, Snake," Akiko said, a snarl playing across her lips. "You do not wanna underestimate Bunny, and you've been pissing me off enough today, I might join her just for a chance to beat you up."

"We are _not_ fighting today!" Reijirou snapped.

"...Can I read my slip now?" Everyone turned to see Kenji standing next to bowl with a slip.

Reijirou sighed in relief. "Please do."

Kenji unfolded his slip, then frowned, puzzled. "Never have I ever missed school for an extended period of time… I'm assuming that um, the school we've all missed from being kidnapped doesn't count…? If some people hadn't started summer break yet…"

Four people lost fingers; Remy, Rika, Take, and Ikeda.

"I missed school for photo shoots overseas," Remy explained, unprompted.

Take just gestured to himself and said, "Bandit," as explanation.

Rika shrugged. "Sometimes I'd be traveling a lot so we couldn't do school! Or my teachers couldn't come. That happened sometimes."

Everyone gave her a strange look. Shiori eventually asked, "So… Did you ever go to public school? Or was it all uh… tutors, I guess is what you're talking about?"

"Hmm… the second one?" Rika answered.

 _Okay,_ Reijirou mused, _Rika's situation before coming here just immediately went up to an "eleven" on the sketchiness scale._ He looked at Ikeda, hoping that the boy might join in on explaining himself, but the interrogator remained silent.

Glancing around to make sure no one else wanted to speak, Remy stepped up to take his turn. Upon reading the slip, Reijirou saw him gulp, but to the rest of the group, it probably seemed that Remy remained unfazed as always. "Never have I ever knowingly broken the law."

"Fuck you, Monokuma!" Akiko shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

Take smirked, seeing as even though he had just lost another finger, he still had one left. "Aw, is someone a sore loser?"

Akiko made a rude gesture at him. "Fuck you too, Snake."

"Are you two done being petty about this?" asked Ikeda, whom Reijirou noted was also down to two fingers.

 _Okay, Take I get because it's literally his talent, and Akiko seems like the type for little things like vandalism or something, but you? What did you do?!_ But, Reijirou knew that Ikeda would not tell them.

Reijirou clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay students, we're almost done. Last question." Picking up the last slip, he opened it and read it. Then he read it again.

"Oh no… no no no…" _Who—? How—? God, why this?_

Monokuma snickered. "Wow, I couldn't have planned this better myself! The suspense is killing me! In fact, it's killing me so much you have five seconds to read it before I do it myself."

"Fine! Fine!" Reijirou relented. "Never… Never have I ever killed someone."

Immediately, the room erupted into shouting.

"What the hell?" asked Gorou.

Shiori started shaking. "This can't be…"

Akiko began rolling up her sleeves. "Which of you bastards—?"

"This has to be a trick!" Seihiko pleaded.

Homura pointed at Ikeda. "It's you isn't it?"

"Can you prove that?" Ikeda retorted.

"Do we have to?" Take said, even as he held Homura back from tackling Ikeda.

Isao, Karen, and Remy all stood frozen. Kashie was huddled on the ground under her coat, and Kenji had buried his face in his arms. Kokoa was glaring around the circle at everyone as she squeezed the fabric of her apron in her fists. Rika was desperately hugging herself and rocking back and forth. At this point, the game seemed to have been forgotten by everyone.

Monokuma hopped back into the center of the circle, laughing all the while. "Upupupu! Now _this_ is what I like to see! Chaos, arguing, mistrust! I love it! But! It seems that none of you have admitted to being a former murderer! Even though I explicitly said every one of these slips applies to at least one of you. And honestly, even before that, some of you should have lost a few more fingers. Which means… we have cheaters!"

Monokuma clapped his paws and suddenly all the lights on the stage went out, save a spotlight above him. "And, as head of this camp, I decree that all cheaters will be revealed… now!" Above, seven harsh red spotlights clicked on. Each fell on one student, a garish declaration of guilt. "Our liars! Isao Iwaka, Kashie Hatsume, Gorou Ishikawa, Rika Ohara, Take Muto, Kenji Ikeda, and Takeo Ikeda! What sort of secrets are they keeping? And, at least one of them is a murderer! Try living with that! Upupu! I can't wait to see what will happen next!" Monokuma disappeared into his hatch, laughing maniacally.

* * *

Chaos. That's all Reijirou could call it. So many moving figures and shouts, and he could barely keep track. Too much. It was too much; he couldn't pick who to go to, so he stood frozen, watching it all unfold.

Kashie and Kenji ran, the mess hall doors banging against the wall as they were thrown open. Remy, in a rare moment of haste, followed them.

Shiori stood in front of Isao, shaking his shoulders. "Isao, Isao! Please, say something!" But the _danseur_ remained silent, staring forward as if he was somewhere far away.

Rika collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Reijirou thought he could make out, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…" Karen stood protectively in front of her, trying to shield her from the more aggressive students.

Homura seemed up in arms. "I knew it! I knew you'd killed someone!" she screamed, pointing at Ikeda.

Ikeda, for his part, almost looked shaken by this turn of events. But, he countered Homura with his typically-cold demeanor. "You can't prove that. I could have lied about anything."

Gorou stalked over. "You're a freaking interrogator! You said you knew how hard it was to stab someone in the trial! We have a right to be suspicious!"

"You're one to talk," said Ikeda, "You could be our murderer, since you lied as well. Although I find it far more likely you lied about self-harming, given your tendency to wear long sleeves and your reluctance to show us your arms during that same trial. Really; you're not even subtle about hiding it."

Gorou sputtered. "You, you… fuck you! Fuck all of this!" Gorou attempted to leave the stage, but Akiko stepped in front of him.

"Hold up! None of the other liars are leaving 'til one of you owns up to being the killer!" Akiko cracked her knuckles. "And you're gonna find that Skull isn't the only one who can interrogate people."

Kokoa stepped over to Akiko, trembling a bit. "Akiko, be careful. I wanna know this stuff too, but…"

Akiko gave her a sharp look. "Look, I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I've got this handled."

"You gonna beat it out of us?" asked Take, taking an aggressive step forward. "That assumes you can take us."

"Stop fighting!" Rika sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry; I didn't mean to—"

"This is stupid!" Karen shouted. "You're not gonna get a straight answer out of anyone and you can't do anything about it anyway! So, back off!"

Seihiko was backing away from the group, and took this opportunity to run through the backstage door. Homura immediately followed him. "Seihiko, wait up!"

Reijirou broke free from his frozen daze when Shiori started tugging on his arm. "Mr. Saiki, do something!"

 _Alright, this ends now._ "That's enough!" Everyone else turned towards him in shock at the authority in his voice. "I am not going to let anyone beat up anyone else to get answers. Everyone, go cool off. Akiko, this is your warning: If you go picking fights again, I'm going to punish you. Take, Ikeda, Gorou, I don't want you starting anything either. This has been a trying experience for everyone, and I am not letting us descend into a mob. I'm having sessions in my office the rest of today. _Please_ come in. You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. Heck, you can just come vent at me if you want. At least drop by, to let me know you're okay."

Everyone went quiet. Gorou bit his lip, but gave a small nod. Akiko, still red-faced in anger, stormed off the stage, shoving Gorou and Kokoa out of her way. Take, frowning, followed suit. Karen eyed everyone else, but turned to help Rika up. Sniffling, Rika let Karen lead her away. Ikeda glanced at Shiori and Reijirou before taking his leave as well.

Now that the crowd had dissipated, Reijirou turned to Isao. Carefully putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, he said, "You with us?"

Isao blinked, gulped, and muttered, "Yeah, I… Sorry, I'm not sure what happened there."

Reijirou leaned in and spoke softly so Shiori and Gorou wouldn't hear. "Do you want to talk about all this? I promise everything will be… confidencial."

"Um…" Isao saw Shiori give him a hopeful look. "Maybe a bit. But uh, not here?"

"Of course. Is my office okay?"

* * *

The two made their way out of the mess hall and around to Reijirou's office. Reijirou let Isao sit on the couch before sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

Isao shifted awkwardly. "So…"

"I don't blame you for lying," said Reijirou. _Get that out in the open. Don't need more guilt than necessary._ "Those were some very personal questions, and revealing tough secrets is hard enough when it's to people you feel close to."

"I hadn't planned on lying…" Isao looked down into his lap. "But that first slip I pulled, it… I knew I couldn't admit that to everyone…" Suddenly he looked up, a bit panicked. "It wasn't the last one! I've never, I mean, I wouldn't…"

"I believe you, don't worry." Reijirou paused, but decided to proceed. "But…I did suspect that you lied while the game was going on. I could see you weren't comfortable."

Looking away in shame, Isao murmured, "It's… I don't think l've admitted those things to anyone… maybe not even myself…"

 _Those things? So he lied more than once? That narrows things down, but…_ "And now?"

"Now… I don't know. I'm sure Shiori and Kashie would understand. But I'm still, um, ashamed, I guess?" Isao laughed hollowly. "It seems silly. It isn't all that important in the long run."

Reijirou frowned. "If it's important to you, it's important. I do trust your friends to support you, but it's your choice. What about everything else, with who lied?"

Isao shrugged. "I mean… I know Kashie isn't a bad person, and I don't think Gorou or Rika are either. Kenji doesn't seem bad, even though I don't know him well. As for Take and Ikeda… I mean, they haven't done anything yet, and we can't exactly do anything about… things that happened before, so…"

"There's… one more thing I want to ask. And please, feel free to decline answering," Reijirou said. He planned his words carefully. "When we get out of here, will you be okay? Safe, taken care of?"

"I'll be fine. Everything at my dance school is fine." The response sounded flat, almost rehearsed.

"Well… just know that if you need help, you can contact me. I promise I'll do what I can."

Isao gave him a look. "You sound so sure this'll all work out… Are you sure you work for Monokuma?"

 _Crap._ Reijirou started to clear his throat, scrambling for an answer, when he heard a knock on his office door. "Uh, just a minute!" He turned to Isao. "Will you be okay if we stop here for now?"

"We can be done, yeah," said Isao, standing up.

As Isao left the office, Remy entered. "Can we have a session, Mr. Saiki?"

"Um, of course!" Reijirou gestured to the chair in front of his desk. _Can't say I expected this, but hey! If he's coming on his own, hopefully it'll be easier to get him to open up!_

* * *

 _Remy_ _sat, but didn't initiate the conversation, as usual._

REIJIROU: So, was there something specific you wanted to talk about?

REMY: I… Sorry, I'm not good at this…

REIJIROU: I'm just here to help you; whatever you decide is best to go about this, I can find a way to work with.

REMY: …How do you talk about feelings?

REIJIROU: Well, there are many ways—

REMY: No, I mean… I don't really… Know what I'm feeling. How can I talk about what I can't describe?

REIJIROU: … _That is certainly trickier. Hmm…_

 _[Start with what's on your mind.]_

[I honestly don't know either.]

[We could try hypnosis?]

REIJIROU: I guess if you can't name what you're feeling, try focusing on what is causing the feeling that's troubling you.

REMY: Well, uh… I guess saying it was the game is kind of obvious…

REIJIROU: I could guess. Is it about what happened at the end, or one of your answers?

REMY: I got someone hurt once… that doesn't bother you?

REIJIROU: I'd need to know what happened before I could say.

REMY: … I was in the jungle, taking pictures of some monkeys in a tree… They started attacking me, and while I was trying to get them off, I broke a branch with a wasps' nest on it. It fell on top of one of the crew… She— she had to go the hospital…

REIJIROU: I'm sorry to hear that it. It must have been upsetting.

REMY: It was an accident. I wouldn't have done it on purpose.

REIJIROU: You're right, but that doesn't mean it can't affect you, or that you can't feel guilty about it.

REMY: Huh… That… hmm. But, I still wish I knew what set the monkeys off, because animals like me.

REIJIROU: _Oh boy… I'm glad he's actually trying to open up, but we'll work on the denial later…_

* * *

Remy stood up suddenly. "Thank you, Mr. Saiki. You were very helpful."

"I'm glad," he replied. "I do have one more question: What made you decide to come talk to me? You've been keeping to yourself, for the most part."

There was a long pause as Remy seemed to consider the question. "I guess… I thought Kenji should talk to you. But… I knew he wouldn't go on his own. Maybe if I tell him I went, and that you were nice, he'll come."

Reijirou blinked. "That's… very thoughtful of you. I hope he comes. Either way, you keep being his friend, okay?"

Remy nodded and left without another word.

Reijirou sat back in his chair. _What a strange boy… but it's good to see beneath it all he cares for someone._

Just then his stomach rumbled, and Reijirou realized that he hadn't eaten anything. He quickly made his way back into the mess hall to grab a bit of food to take back to his office. When he got there, he found Shiori and Gorou walking out of the kitchen with armloads of junk food. He raised an eyebrow.

Shiori looked a bit sheepish. "We were, uh, gonna find Isao and Kashie and…have a self-care day, I guess?"

"I don't know how she roped me into this either," said Gorou.

Reijirou gave an almost stern look, then smiled. "Just pace yourself with the sweets."

Shiori smiled and walked out of the mess hall, while Gorou followed, giving Reijirou a quick look before continuing out. Reijirou waved. _Good on Shiori for bringing him into her group. He needs that._

In addition to some real food, he brought a bag of hard strawberry candies to give the students if they came in. He popped on in his mouth as he sat in his desk. He glanced up at the monitor, expecting Monokuma to appear and… Gloat? Reprimand him for his slip with Isao? But for whatever reason, the bear did not appear. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Reijirou quickly pulled out a paper to start making some notes on the events of the game.

 _So Isao, Kashie, Gorou, Rika, Take, Kenji, and Ikeda all lied at least once during the game,_ he thought, putting stars by their names, _And one of them, according to Monokuma, has killed before… God, okay, let's… put that aside for now…_ He put down as many of the students' answers as he could remember, staring the answers that most concerned him.

He immediately saw that Akiko was a mess. _Cheating, criminal activity, debts, feeling responsible for harm,_ and _having a bad relationship with a parent figure… Why do I feel like this is going to be a familiar story…_ It was almost textbook; bad relationship with parents leads to angry, frustrated child lashing out in whatever way they can, which leads them down a dark path...

None of the others who had not lied raised nearly as many red flags, although he noted that Karen and Kokoa both might be dealing with a sick or dying family member based on their answers.

Before he could move onto those who _had_ lied, the door slammed open. He jumped. Karen came barging in, dragging Rika behind her. "Talk, now!" she said before turning around slamming the door again.

 _This is a day of unexpected things…_ Reijirou stood up and approached Rika slowly. "Well, hi. What was that all about?"

Rika shuffled her feet. "I uh… Karen and I were talking, and it was really nice! But then I think I said something wrong and she just uh, brought me here…" She looked up, eyes shining with unshed tears. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, no," he reassured. "I think Karen is just… worried about what you told her, and thinks talking to me would help." _I guess Karen trusts me enough as authority to think I can help, even if she doesn't open up to me herself._

"Oh! Uh… What if I don't uh, wanna tell you what I told her?"

Reijirou leaned back against the ridge of his desk. "That's okay, although I do think you should tell me sometime. Rika… I do worry about you. When I see some of the extreme ways you've reacted to things, it makes me concerned. It makes me concerned about… how you've been treated." _God I_ _hope I'm not overstepping here, but whatever situation she was in before now clearly has had serious effects on her. Fainting at the sight of a corpse was one thing, but the amount to which she seems to freeze and break down even at the mention of death is… I'm not even sure what to call it._

Rika's eyebrows furrowed. "You're worried about me? Not… not about what I've done? I… I lied. About something… pretty bad…"

 _Oh, hell._ For a moment, he couldn't speak. He took in a sharp breath. "Rika, everything I've seen of how you behave tells me you are a sweet girl who would never want to truly hurt someone." He knelt down and, after a moment of hesitation, he put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know what you've done, but I believe that, whatever it was, you can move past it." _But if I'm right, that might take some time…_

Rika sniffled, then whispered, "Um… Can I hug you?"

He didn't t hesitate this time. "Of course."

A small step forward, and then Rika had thrown her arms around him and was holding on like he'd disappear if she let go. They stayed that way for a while. He let Rika move away first. Taking a candy from his desk, he said, "Want one? They're strawberry."

Rika nodded silently and popped the sweet into her mouth. "Thanks, Mr. Saiki. Um… I don't know if I wanna talk anymore now, but… can I come in tomorrow?"

"Oh course. Do you want to find Karen again, or…?"

"... Maybe later." Rika fiddled with the candy wrapper. "I'm gonna go to my cabin now."

"I think I'll come with you, if you're okay with that." Reijirou picked up his tablet and bag of candies, then leaned just a bit closer to whisper conspiratorially in Rika's ear. "I think some people are hiding out in the cabins, and they could use some candy."

Rika perked up at that. "Yes! That will make people feel better. Let's go!" She grabbed his arm and began power-walking back towards the cabins.

Reijirou thought he heard some banging in the barn as they passed, but Rika did not slow her pace, so they continued on. Rika first dragged him to her own cabin. When she opened the door, he saw it was empty. He tried to ignore the bed that had belonged to Hideyo, still untouched and with a few smears of paint on the sheets. "How about we try the other cabins?" he suggested gently.

They went to the cabin across the path. There they found Remy and Kenji, each on their own bunks but both bundled up in their blankets.

Rika waved. "Hi! We brought candy!" Taking his cue, Reijirou held up the bag.

Remy took one immediately, and after a moment Kenji followed suit.

Taking the opportunity, Reijirou said, "You missed me saying this, but if you want to come talk in my office, I'm—"

"No, thanks," Kenji interrupted. His look was cold, but Reijirou saw the remnants of tears on his face. "So, can you both leave us alone?"

Rika deflated. "Oh, okay… Uh, feel better! I'm gonna take these to more people!" She snatched the candy bag and rushed out of the cabin.

Reijirou hesitated a moment longer. But then he saw the way Kenji still glared, so he quickly followed.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Rika had rushed away from the cabins to continue her search, and he couldn't tell which way she went. He decided to check in to the other cabins. The second boys' cabin was empty, but in the second girls' cabin he found Kokoa in bundle of blankets. But she didn't glare at him or order him to leave, so Reijirou thought that was a good start.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

She pulled the blanket over her head. "Terrible…"

He took a tentative step further into the cabin. "Wanna talk about anything?"

She peeked out. "...Sure. Better than brooding. Just don't pry, okay?"

* * *

REIJIROU: _Let's see what I can do with not prying._

REIJIROU: Can I just thank you for all of the cooking you've done while we've been here? It makes me happy that I don't have to worry about everyone burning down the kitchen or living on pre-packaged stuff.

KOKOA: …I've made pastries, hot cocoa, and, like, eight types of chocolates. I'm not exactly helping anyone's health.

REIJIROU: Wait, eight types? That's so much!

KOKOA: Most of those weren't even full batches. At least a couple have been promising…

REIJIROU: That's right. You were trying to create a new flavor for your shop.

[Why are they all so sour?]

[I have some suggestions…]

 _[What made you want to experiment?]_

REIJIROU: Uh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but was there something specific that made you want to try experimenting with flavors more?

KOKOA: …Yes.

REIJIROU: _Okay, don't press; if she wants to say more, she will._

KOKOA: …The shop is doing well, but if we're gonna keep up, we need something new. A new direction. We can't just rely on past success.

REIJIROU: Of course. And I bet it's that experimental spirit that's kept things going.

KOKOA: Ugh… Everyone in town knew my grandma, so of course they're still gonna come, but we need more than that! I want us to be more than just a mom-and-pop candy shop forever!

REIJIROU: _Knew? Oh boy…_

REIJIROU: Well, if your determination at home is at all what it's been like here, I'm sure you'll find your next big hit soon.

KOKOA: Right. When maybe three people have even given my chocolates enough of a chance to even critique them properly.

REIJIROU: Oof, I'm sorry. Next time, I promise I'll give them a try, okay?

KOKOA: …Sure.

* * *

Kokoa pulled the blanket back over her head, so Reijirou took that as his hint to leave.

As he exited the cabin and began to head back to his office, he saw a hint of movement behind the one of the trees behind the cabins. Ikeda had just ducked out of sight. Immediately Reijirou called out to him. "Ikeda! Can we talk?" _I've tried giving you space, so I guess it's time to try being direct._

When he received no answer, Reijirou made his way over to the tree. However, even at a brisk walk, by the time he reached it, Ikeda had moved deeper into the woods. He started to follow, but quickly found himself lost. Eventually he stumbled upon a clearing with several large boulders in the middle, and standing beside one was Akiko. She was spray painting something on the side of the rock.

When she saw him, she swore. "Fuck, Teach, what're you doing here?"

"I saw Ikeda head into the woods and was trying to find him," he replied. "Did he pass by here, or…?"

"If he had, I would have kicked his ass. Screw your rules, he's a liar, and probably a murderer," Akiko spat. "Now leave before I make you, and don't think I can't."

He gulped. _That you could!_ Reijirou tried to make himself less threatening as he backed up. "Okay! No need for that."

Once he had slowly backed out of the clearing, Reijirou ran his hand through his hair. _She is clearly agitated. I'd better keep an eye on her whenever I can, but also try to avoid making her suspicious that I'm watching? Great. That's gonna be… Nope, can't even be sarcastic. That's gonna suck. Everything is kind of awful._

Now in a somewhat despondent state, Reijirou only searched for Ikeda for a short while longer before deciding to head back. _Even if I found him, I might just get mad at him for being so closed off, and that is the exact opposite of a good idea._ After much wandering and retracing of steps, he got out of the , just as he made it back to the main path someone ran straight into him. "Woah, you okay?" he said, staggering back to find Seihiko on the ground, rubbing his nose.

"It's fine; my fault," Seihiko said, standing back up.

 _Since he rushed out early, this might be a good chance to talk to him…_

* * *

 _Reijirou looked back the way the yo-yo pro had come from, but didn't see anything that might have prompted his flight._

REIJIROU: Why in such a hurry?

SEIHIKO: I just needed to get away before things got worse. It wasn't a real fight or anything, just… Homura and I were arguing and she got me really mad.

REIJIROU: _A fight with Homura?_

REIJIROU: What was it about?

SEIHIKO: I mean, it's stupid, honestly. Just because she still wants to hang out with Take, even though he has _clearly_ demonstrated he's a jerk, and yet she acts like Ikeda is, like, a demon or something, and yeah, he is also suspicious, but she's _clearly_ biased, and—

REIJIROU: Woah woah woah, breath!

REIJIROU: _This just got complicated..._

[You're right completely right to be mad!]

[She's allowed to have her opinion.]

 _[What about what she said has gotten you so worked up?]_

REIJIROU: This has clearly struck a nerve for you. Do you know exactly what's about that has gotten you so worked up, specifically?

SEIHIKO: I… I wish she would see that Take has been a jerk! He makes everything about what he can get and how much he can get… Life isn't a competition! You're not being smart and getting ahead! You're being an asshole! I would—

 _Seihiko cut himself off, glaring at the ground._

REIJIROU: …You would know?

SEIHIKO: I… Look, I don't… You know what I said, in the game, about having a rival?

REIJIROU: One who hated you?

SEIHIKO: Yeah. So… sometimes, briefly! It uh… wasn't exactly… one-sided…

REIJIROU: …Okay. So you got a bit too competitive in the past. It sounds like you've moved past it.

SEIHIKO: I'm trying! But sometimes, the way Take's been acting makes me so mad! And I worry that I… Nevermind. Bye, Mr. Saiki.

REIJIROU: Wait, Seihiko—!

 _But, Seihiko had already pushed past him, and ran into the woods._

* * *

 _That… could have gone better._

Reijirou pondered the conversation as he made his way back. Again, he heard noises from the barn, but this time he decided to investigate. He knocked on the door. "Hey, everything okay in there?"

He heard a creak from somewhere above his head. "It's all good, Teach!"

Reijirou followed the voice around to the end of the barn, and saw Take leaning out of a window that he'd apparently just opened, which was held up with a short one hand, he held a coil of rope, and in another, a short saw.

"What are you doing in there?" Reijirou asked cautiously.

Take grinned. "Just some renovations! I mean, I figure since _some_ people might still have a problem with me, given that whole ruckus after the game, I'd better make sure my hideout is… secure."

 _By 'some people' do you mean Akiko or Seihiko?_ Reijirou didn't voice that thought aloud. "You're not building anything dangerous, I hope?"

"I would never!" Take gestured with rope like it was a lasso. "Just something to trip up trespassers. And, I double checked; nothing I'm doing is against the rules, so really!" His voice took on a darker tone. "You don't have to worry."

Reijirou gulped. _Too bad, I'm worrying!_ Still, he backed off. _This is going to end badly._

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful. The only other student who came to see him was Shiori, who reported that they hadn't been able to find Kashie, but she, Gorou, and Isao had spent the day in the zip-line tower having a "mental health day." He had to giggle a bit when Shiori related the story of Rika climbing up the side of the tower to deliver them candies, and how she made Gorou try the zip-line. Now in a somewhat better mood, Reijirou had finished his notes on the game, but had ended up stuck, going in circles over who to talk to next and how to approach them.

After that all, he collapsed on his bed. _Wow, I thought that I was almost-qualified to be in the field. Turns out, giving one-sided advice and reading textbooks does not prepare you at all for planning how actually having to talk to (probably) severely- traumatized and / or repressed teenagers! While also dealing with your own emotions!_ He groaned into his pillow. In the end, his sleep was restless and filled with anxiety of what was to come.

* * *

 _Okay, a few things. Sorry this chapter took so long. A combination of the holidays and writers block slowed me down. I'm not sure how long the next chapter will take, but it should be a bit less dense than this one. Like I said at the beginning of this, some heavier topics are starting to come up, and I'm doing my best to handle them carefully. But if you have suggestions or concerns, please PM me. On a lighter note, in case you didn't know, we have a discord! There are many fun shenanigans there, so if you want an invite let me know. Until next time!_


	14. Chapter 2 (part 3)

_CW: graphic imagery_

* * *

Shiori was in the middle of brushing her teeth when she heard shouting. She dropped her tooth brush and rushed out of the bathhouse to find the source of the noise. After a moment of looking around she saw a small crowd of people gathered around the outside the barn. She could make out Gorou, Homura, Seihiko, Ikeda, Akiko, and Kokoa. Her throat suddenly felt a bit drier. Quickly she made her way to the barn and through the crowd.

Immediately Shiori saw what had caused the commotion; the barn door and walls were now covered with graffiti. Most prominent was the word 'Liar,' but she also saw other words and phrases like 'arrogant bastard,' and 'asshole,' and 'no one likes a snake.' That last one was beside a crude drawing of a snake with a human head clearly meant to be Take being crushed under a boot.

The bandit in question stood between the barn and the rest of the crowd, rage radiating off him in waves. "Who the fuck did this? No one messes with my hide-out and gets away with it! C'mon coward, face me!"

"Dude, it's paint," said Gorou, rolling his eyes, "Just wash it off or paint over it."

"That's not the point!" Take snapped. "Someone messed with my stuff! No one gets to touch what's mine."

"And this stuff _is_ like, super rude," Homura added.

Ikeda raised his eyebrows. "And yet, the point does stand that Take is, in at least once sense, a liar. He lied during the game yesterday, despite seeming to be unaffected by the questions. Curious…"

Homura crossed her arms. "You don't get to talk about lying, liar!"

"What in the world are you all looking—? Oh..." Everyone turned to Mr. Saiki, who had made his way over from his office and had just seen the state of the barn. He sighed. "Okay, who wrote this?"

"That's what I wanna know!" Take's face darkened. "'Cause they're in for a world of hurt."

"Okay, remember what I said about not fighting? I meant it." Mr. Saiki pinched the bridge of his nose. "But, also? This is incredibly immature, and all of you are at an age where you should know better."

"What would you do about it, though?" said Akiko from the back of the crowd. "It isn't breaking any rules. What would you even do— make them talk it out or some other touchy-feely bull?"

Shiori gave Akiko a sharp look. _What are you doing? I'm basically a hundred percent sure you did this, and now you're drawing attention to yourself? Also, Akiko, what the heck?!_

Akiko did not wait for Mr. Saiki to answer her question, instead grabbing Kokoa's arm and heading over to the mess hall as the morning announcement played.

Undaunted by Akiko's rudeness, Mr. Saiki followed after her. "Well, for one thing, I'd have them clean it up!"

Take watched the two girls leave, a calculating look on his face. "Lil' Hotshots? Time for a meeting." He grabbed Homura and Seihiko and pulled them into the barn and closed the door with a large 'thump.'

Shiori jumped a bit at the noise. As she recovered, she saw Ikeda give a small nod. Then he turned to her and said, "What do you think?"

She gulped. "About what? This situation? What's gonna happen? 'Cause honestly I don't know."

"I bet you know more than you let on, Miss Writer." Ikeda glanced from the barn door to the mess hall. "Your ability to read people and situations is… admirable. I have my own thoughts on how events will proceed, of course, but hearing yours could be enlightening, or at least interesting."

 _Uh, I think you're wrong, because I don't know what the actual heck that means._ Shiori opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to find something to say.

Before she could form an answer, however, Gorou stepped between them. "Dude, leave her alone. For one? You're being an enigmatic asshole, and I can tell you're doing it on purpose. And two? I get the feeling that what you're actually after is speculation on who might kill next. That, or you're just gossiping. Either way? Step off."

Ikeda looked down at both of them before sighing. "Forgive me for asking a simple question. But, I don't feel like dealing with your hot-headedness today." With that he turned on his heel and headed to the mess hall.

Gorou turned back to Shiori. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Thanks. I don't know what Ikeda's deal is with me." _He's basically as unreadable as the love interest in romance novel before the big kiss, but I don't wanna think about that because the idea of Ikeda crushing me is just… Ugh._ She made a slight face at that thought.

"What's with that face?" Gorou raised an eyebrow.

Shiori laughed, a bit sheepish. "Had a weird thought. Don't worry about it." She cleared her throat. "I was gonna wait for Isao and hopefully Kashie before getting breakfast. But uh, if you're really hungry, you can go ahead!"

Gorou kind of shuffled his feet. "I mean… I don't mind waiting."

"Cool, awesome."

As they waited, Shiori considered Gorou. _He seems a lot less comfortable now that I've brought up the others, and he was super awkward while we were hanging out yesterday. I guess he's mostly okay with me, but not the others yet? That'd make sense…_

After a few minutes of waiting Isao came up the path. She noted he was wearing his fleece vest today. _Oh… wow._ _He literally has three outfits and yet he always looks cute? How?_ Shaking off her blush, Shiori waved. "Hey! You missed some drama this morning. Someone marked up the barn."

Isao looked over the graffiti. "Wow. Whoever did this does not like Take."

"I mean, it's not like Take was subtle about the fact he'd claimed the barn. Still, he was super mad when I got here. It seems he's enlisted Homura and Seihiko in some sort of plan." Shiori shook her head. "I just hope things don't escalate too much."

"Me too." He looked back over his shoulder at the cabins. "You uh… haven't seen Kashie, have you?"

"I was hoping you'd seen her…" Shiori frowned, then turned back to Isao. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. We are finding her. Or, wait, shoot. Breakfast…"

"I don't mind grabbing food," Isao offered.

Gorou rolled his eyes just a bit, but smiled. "If we leave you to get the food you'll empty half the kitchen. I'll go too."

Isao seemed a bit startled at Gorou's accusation. He frowned. "Look, just because I have a fast metabolism doesn't mean I wouldn't leave food for everyone else."

"How about you guys grab something quickly and then we can meet back here? I have an idea where she might be, but if I'm wrong then we can search and eat at the same time." _And you two can hopefully bond more? Because dang it, I want all my friends to be friends._ Shiori started to leave before turning back. She raised an eyebrow conspiratorially. "Isao, you'd better teach Gorou to eat as fast as you do, so both you can eat and search faster!"

"I don't need any help!" Gorou protested through his laughter.

Isao shook his head. "I can try, but no promises!"

"Don't you know the saying from that one old movie? 'There is no try; only do!'" Shiori giggled a bit to herself and headed into the woods behind the cabins. _Kashie hid on the edge of these woods back during the first night; maybe she went deeper in this time._

She wandered for some time. Eventually, she found some brown fur caught on a low hanging branch. As she examined it, she heard from above her, "Sh-shiori? What… what are you doing out here?"

Shiori looked up and saw Kashie hiding up in the branches of the tree. "What are _you_ doing out here? You… look a bit disheveled." That was a bit of an understatement. Kashie seemed dirty, tired, and fidgety.

"I thought… I mean, things were really uh, well, scary yesterday, and I… also needed some time to think, but mostly I didn't want someone to find me, and…"

"And what? Yell at you for lying?" Shiori took a breath and carefully started to climb the tree. "I mean, yeah, yesterday wasn't great, but we tried to find you! We wanted to make sure you were okay… Are you okay?"

Kashie sniffled. "I don't know. I, I just… I have all these thoughts in my head and just when I start to, to feel better it… all hits me again."

Shiori situated herself on a branch a bit below Kashie. "Honestly? I think being with other people helps. Just watch, I bet I can cheer you up right now!"

* * *

SHIORI: _Okay Shiori, you can do this._

SHIORI: You know, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while.

KASHIE: ...Okay…?

SHIORI: How did you get that coat? I've never seen anything like it.

KASHIE: I… made it… actually…

SHIORI: Woah, that's so cool! Why did you decide to make?

KASHIE: Um… I just…

SHIORI: I mean, there doesn't have to be a particular reason! I just thought...

[It looks ridiculous.]

[I'd be too scared to wear something so crazy.]

 _[You must like bears a lot.]_

SHIORI: … you must like bears a lot, to wanna make your own coat to look like one.

KASHIE: ...Yeah, I… I do like bears. Real ones, not like… Monokuma...

SHIORI: _Shoot, forgot about that!_

SHIORI: Well, of course! And bears are really interesting. They're big, and strong, and tough.

KASHIE: Uh-huh… Bears, they… hide away when it's cold, but when they come out… they're stronger than before… they can take on anything...

SHIORI: That's true…

SHIORI: _Maybe that's why she wears the coat..._

SHIORI: Well, I think your coat makes you look really cool! Like you could face a real bear and it'd respect you!

KASHIE: I hadn't thought of it… like that...

SHIORI: I'm serious! I think there's more strength in you than you realize.

KASHIE: I don't know…

SHIORI: Really! I think it takes a lot of strength to do what you do; talking in front of a bunch of people even when you're scared. The fact that you do it anyway is what makes you strong.

KASHIE: You think that… makes me strong?

SHIORI: Yes! Honestly, I really respect that.

KASHIE: Hehe… Thanks. That means a lot.

* * *

Shiori smiled and playfully pushed the toe of one of Kashie's boots above her head. "See, told you I could cheer up. Wanna come down now?"

Kashie nodded, and the two began descending from the tree. Shiori got down first, then took Kashie's hands to help her jump down.

"I heard the announcement before," Kashie said once she was standing steadily. "Did you get breakfast before this?"

"Nah; I sent the boys to get it. We're meeting back at the barn."

As they were walking back, Kashie began frowning again, as if pondering something very intently. After they got out of the trees but before they reached the barn, she said, "Shiori."

"Yeah?"

Kashie took a deep breath, then blurted out, "I lied about cheating."

Shiori stopped. She was about to speak, but Kashie continued.

"I, I just… I was in this competition and I wanted to win so badly, so… my mom payed off one of the judges… and even though I won I… didn't even feel proud afterward. My… I mean, I realized I had failed at doing what I really wanted to, to do with public speaking! I didn't want to be famous, necessarily, I wanted to improve, and… and become better, through my own work." A few fresh tears twinkled at the corners of her eyes. "And I needed to tell you because you, you said you were proud of my for trying even when it's hard, but I know I didn't always do that… but I'm trying to be better, I, I really am, so… I hope you can forgive me…"

Shiori blinked a few times. "I… of course I forgive you, Kashie, but… it's a bit to take in…" _Of all the things she could have lied about, I honestly didn't expect that…_

Kashie shuffled her feet and retreated into her coat. "I'd understand if… if you'd want... if you'd rather not hang out…"

Shiori shook her head vigorously. "No! No, Kashie, you're my friend. This doesn't change that." She took a step closer leaned over a bit to see Kashie's face under her hood. "You know that telling me also took strength, right? I really appreciate that… that you trust me with this."

Kashie smiled slightly.

Shiori smiled back. "There we go!" she cheered. "C'mon, I bet the boys are at the barn by now."

They quickly got back to the barn. Isao carried a basket and Gorou held a package of mini bottles of orange juice. "Hey! We brought fruit and croissants. Kokoa didn't make any pastries today, so these are the prepackaged kind."

"Be thankful I stopped him from trying to get some of Mr. Saiki's 'waffles,'" Gorou added.

Shiori stared. "Why? Waffles are amazing!"

The corner of Gorou's mouth twitched into an almost-smile. "Trust me; they looked more like bumpy brown frisbees."

Isao laughed a bit. "They weren't _that_ bad."

"The waffle iron almost exploded in his face."

Shiori winced. "Oh boy."

Kashie stepped out from behind Shiori. "So, uh… hi?"

"Hey! Glad you're okay," said Isao.

Gorou stepped up. "No one gave you a hard time about the game, right?" His expression darkened. "Because if they did—"

"No! No, you don't need to, to do anything," Kashie reassured. She looked behind them at the barn. "What's… all this?"

Gorou quickly explained the events that happened earlier that morning. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure it was Akiko," he admitted, "She's the only person who's ever called Take 'Snake.'"

Shior hesitated, but then spoke up. "Um… I also know she's done some other spray painting around camp…"

Isao looked a bit puzzled. "Really? How?"

"I uh… helped her paint the back of the mess hall. I didn't think she'd do something like this, or I would have discouraged her!" Shiori drooped a bit. "Not sure if she would have listened to me, but honestly, yesterday and today she's been super moody. I'm kind of afraid she'd just take it as a challenge or something…"

"Well, clearly she took Take's flippant attitude and lying during the game yesterday as a challenge," said Gorou, gesturing vaguely at the graffiti. "At least she's not hunting down the people who lied and trying to make them talk…"

Everyone went silent for a moment at the reminder of yesterday's ordeal. Shiori looked at her friends. _They all lied, and that makes people suspicious, but… those questions were too personal. I don't blame them…_ Gorou kicked at the dirt. Isao took off his glasses and began nervously cleaning them with the edge of his vest. Kashie pulled her coat further over her shoulders.

Then her stomach growled. "Um, maybe we should, eat that breakfast?"

"Agreed," said Shiori, grateful for the change in subject. "Wanna use the zip-line tower again? It was really nice up there yesterday; cool view, nice and private."

"Not really. I'd prefer avoiding a situation where I could be forced to use the zip-line again," Gorou replied. "How about the grass near the mess hall so we can put the leftovers away easier?"

Shiori perked up. "Sure! It could be like a picnic!"

Kashie looked puzzled. "Gorou used the zip-line?"

The boy in question blushed, stammering, "I, I only did it because Rika wouldn't leave me alone until I did! It's not like I was scared, or anything, but…"

Shiori gave him a playful elbow jab. "But you did look like you had fun."

"Okay, maybe," Gorou conceded, "But I'm not in the mood."

While the others had been distracted, Isao had already started down the path to the mess hall. He turned back to them. "Well? I waited long enough for food; let's get going!"

Shiori gave a small giggle and began to follow. "Yeah!"

* * *

The picnic brunch eventually evolved into quiet chit-chat and cloud watching as everyone finished up their food. Gorou surprised everyone by being incredibly imaginative when it came to cloud shapes.

"I deal with creating images from shapes all the time," said Gorou in response to the others' questioning. "When you're snow sculpting, you have to look at a block of white and see the possibilities. Sometimes to challenge myself, I'll set a timer, and start a sculpture with no plan at all, just to see what I can come up with."

Shiori sat up from where she'd been laying on the ground to look at the sky. "You know Gorou? I think this is the first time I've ever heard you talk about your talent."

"Me too," Isao added. Kashie also nodded once in agreement.

Gorou shrugged. "Yeah, 'cause I don't like bragging. Being talented doesn't give you a pass to be stuck up."

"You don't have to _brag_ to talk about something you're passionate about," Isao pointed out.

"Okay, yeah, but also? You don't get to talk after explaining the entire history of pointe shoes yesterday."

Isao covered his face in embarrassment. "I already apologized for rambling!"

"It's not like we stopped you," Shiori admitted. _Mostly because I could listen to you talk all day and… wait, no, Shiori, abort, ABORT, you're gonna blush again!_ Too late, she realized that her face felt warm. Still, she finally felt relaxed after the amount of tension that had been growing over the last day. _Maybe eventually, we'll all be able to hang out like this._

At that point, Kokoa and Akiko exited the mess hall and spotted the group on the lawn. "Eh, Bubbly! Got a regular party going on!" Akiko called, waving.

"It's just brunch!" Shiori noticed Kokoa held a tray of chocolates. "Oh, new recipe Kokoa?"

Kokoa bit her lip before marching over and handing each of them a chocolate. "Let me know what you think. I wasn't sure about them, but—"

"How can you 'not be sure' when these are basically the shit?" Akiko interrupted.

Even more curious now, Shiori popped the small chocolate into her mouth. She chewed, pondering. _Still bitter and lemony, but kind of sweet in the center, and there's some other flavor here that makes it… warm? Is that a thing a flavor can be?_

Isao took another larger bite after his first tentative one. "Does this have red bean paste in it?"

Kokoa nodded, a hint of a grin on her face. "In the filling, yes, but it also has rum in to give it a warm, sweet flavor with some edge."

Akiko leaned forward. "The rum was my idea."

Shiori blinked a few times as she continued to finish the sweet. "I… I don't even know what's happening in my mouth, but I think I like it?"

"It's weird," Gorou blurted out.

"But you're still eating it," said Kokoa, visibly getting more excited. "Oh my gosh, I think I'm onto something. I need to try more variations."

Just as she was turning to go back into the mess hall, however, Akiko grabbed her arm. "Now hold on, we didn't just come out here to get feedback on your chocolates; I still need to show you the mural!"

Isao, Kashie, and Gorou all looked from Akiko to Shiori, who slowly stood. "You mean the one in the back…?"

Akiko beamed, "Yeah! Come on, you did part of it, come show her!" As she began leading Kokoa around, Akiko looked back at the picnic, eyeing everyone but Shiori. "I guess they can come too." The tone of her voice was cold, but not necessarily hostile. The two did not wait for them.

"Wait, uh, I mean…" Shiori stammered, glancing at her friends. "I guess, if you _want_ to…?"

After a moment, Kashie stood as well. "I'd like to see it…"

"Why not?" Isao added.

Watching the others get up, Gorou sighed as he joined them. "Just don't make me talk to her."

"'Course," said Shiori. _He's probably still mad at Akiko for yesterday._

The group followed behind Akiko and Kokoa a ways. "What exactly is the mural of?" asked Isao.

"Uh…" Shiori wasn't really sure how to describe it. "Well, it's of—"

"What the fuck?!" came Akiko's voice from just through the trees.

Shiori raced forward to see what was going on. She came around the corner and gasped when she saw the mural. Or what was left of it. The wall was covered in fresh black paint, crudely defacing the picture. All of the once-happy people seemed to be on fire, and the Monokuma in the cage had been given hair that was clearly meant to mimic Akiko's signature ponytail. Someone had also thrown several eggs at the wall; the egg whites mixed with the wet paint, turning it a dirty gray. At the bottom was written, 'I fixed it for you!'

Kokoa stared, slack-jawed. "Why? How did…?"

"It was that dirty rotten snake!" Akiko growled, whipping around to face the group. "He figured out I trashed his place, so he trashed one of the only things I've had any fun with in this fucking place! God dammit, he must have seen me and Bubbly walking back here with paint the other day." She clutched at her head. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Shiori shook her head. "Akiko, I'm so sorry..."

"Hey, calm down," said Kokoa, taking a step forward. "We can go talk to Mr. Saiki, alright? He can—"

Akiko looked up, eyes red with furious tears. "Get us to talk about our feelings and shit? Well, news flash, my feelings right now are 'rage' and 'a mighty need to punch a smug asshole in the face'! And talking ain't changing that! Nope! I'm not taking this, and if you give even one shit about me, you won't stop me!" She shoved Kokoa out of the way and ran back towards the rest of the camp.

Kokoa stood frozen, her hands gripping her tray of chocolates so hard they trembled. Shiori stepped forward tentatively. "Hey…"

"Don't." Kokoa turned around to face the others. Although tears were in her eyes, her gaze was icy. "There isn't much we can do at this point. If she isn't going to listen to me or Shiori, she isn't going to listen to anyone."

"But… are _you_ okay?" asked Kashie.

"No. But I don't want to talk about it." With that Kokoa also started back towards the camp as well.

Everyone else watched her go. They stayed there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Shiori looked back at the ruined mural. "Do you think we could clean it?"

"I don't know," replied Isao. "I don't know enough about how the different kinds of paint work to know if cleaning the new paint would get rid of the picture."

"And the egg doesn't make it any easier," Gorou added. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "God, this situation is a mess. I don't wanna deal with this."

"Should we get Mr. Saiki?" asked Kashie.

Isao frowned. "I mean… nothing that's happening is against the rules, necessarily, so I don't know if Mr. Saiki can do anything about it."

"Akiko did have a point. We're not in a school, so it's not like he can give detention or anything, so all he really could do is make them talk and clean up the mess," Gorou groaned, "And I doubt that Akiko or Take would be stopped by that."

"But we can't just do nothing!" Shiori protested. "We can at least have the meeting at the tower this afternoon, like we said we would, right? That could help." The other three shared a glance. Shiori faltered. "Guys…?"

Gorou spoke up first. "Look, I'm not saying you shouldn't have the meeting, I'm just… emotionally exhausted. I'll pass."

"And I'm… still trying to sort out some things for myself," Isao said next. "I don't know if I'm ready to hear about other people's problems on top of that right now."

Shiori looked at Kashie hopefully. "Kashie…?"

After a moment, Kashie gave a nod. "I… I think I'll come, but uh, just for a bit, if that's okay."

A lump formed in Shiori's throat. But she swallowed and but on a smile. "That's totally okay! You guys need to take care of yourselves. But we can still hang out at dinner later, right?"

They all agreed, but as they walked back to camp and headed their separate ways, Shiori thought and thought. She thought as she returned the leftover food from brunch to the kitchen, and as she walked over to Mr. Saiki's office and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" Mr. Saiki called from inside. After a moment of shuffling sounds, Mr. Saiki poked his head of through the door. She hadn't noticed it that morning, but he looked a bit ragged; the collar of his polo shirt was askew, and his hair stuck up at strange angles instead of lying flat as usual. He seemed to be shoving papers into a simple canvas bag. Before she could comment, he began speaking. "Hey, Shiori! Did you need something? Wait, oh, that's right! Today you were going to have a meeting at the tower! You want me to announce when?"

Recovering from Mr. Saiki's unexpected verbal onslaught, Shiori said, "Um, That'd be great! I thought we could do it in an hour?"

She was going to say more, mainly, _Mr. Saiki, are you okay? You look a bit… stressed out?_ But before she could, he said, "Right right, of course! Right away. Let me know if you need to talk, okay? I'm just about to go see if I can find a few people personally to have a talk, so I won't be in my office for a while, but I'll be back by this evening! See you then." And then with that, he stepped back inside.

Shiori stood numbly in front of his door as he made the announcement, then she shook her head a bit to clear it. _Well, I guess I'm not telling him about Akiko and Take just yet… seems like he has enough to deal with…_ She decided to head over to the tower early, both to catch people and maybe to have some time to herself.

In the end, she didn't get as much quiet time as she expected. After only about fifteen minutes of hanging out in the tower, she heard sounds of physical exertion. She got up off the floor and looked down to see where the voice was coming from.

Down on the sports field she saw Rika with a soccer ball and her green teddy bear sitting nearby. Rika was attempting to dribble the ball from one knee to the other. She actually wasn't doing to badly; Shiori counted four as her max. Still, Rika groaned loudly each time she let the ball drop.

"Hey Rika!" Shiori called down, waving once Rika looked over. "Wanna come up for a break? You look like you could use one."

Rika looked at the ball on the ground, then back up. "Okay! Let me just grab Mr. Green." Soon enough, she was up the stairs of the tower.

"Not gonna climb up the side like yesterday?" Shiori asked with a sly smile.

Rika tilted her head to the side slightly. "That was an impulse thing. I was just excited."

 _That you were,_ Shiori thought, smiling at the memory of Rika climbing up the tower's support poles with the bag of candy held in her teeth."Still, how about we talk a bit more this time?" After she'd given them all candy, she'd insisted on all of them trying the zip-line, which took a lot of convincing in Gorou's case, but she hadn't really stuck around to talk much.

"Uh… okay!" Rika plopped down on the ground with her bear in her lap.

* * *

 _For a little while, the two talked about nothing important, just enjoying each other's company. But as they talked, Shiori's thoughts turned to the bear in Rika's lap._

SHIORI: So, what's the story with Mr. Green?

RIKA: My producers got him for me after I won my first tournament! I was so happy. It sort of became a tradition! When I won a tournament or other major event, I got a stuffed bear.

SHIORI: That's pretty cute, actually.

SHIORI: _When she puts it like that, it sounds kind of like a normal sports tradition or something._

RIKA: I wish my other bears were here though. Then we could play tournament with them!

SHIORI: Tournament? How do you play that?

RIKA: It's easy! You make a bracket, then you act out the fights and the winner moves on! And when we get to the end, we crown the winner! Then if we wanna be extra realistic and dramatic, we have scenes of the losers in the infirmary swearing revenge on those who defeated them, or someone having to retire because they got hurt too bad, or other stuff!

SHIORI: Uh… that sounds really, dramatic, but…

SHIORI: _She said those 'realistic' things so nonchalantly, I'm kind of worried…_

[If that happened in real life, it'd be illegal!]

 _[Have you seen things like that happen?]_

[You have an overactive imagination.]

SHIORI: I don't mean to pry but, uh, have things like that actually happened, that you know of?

RIKA: I mean… not so much the swearing revenge thing. Some fighters have PR people who make up plot lines and things, but I've never really had a specific rival or anything like that.

SHIORI: And the… injuries?

RIKA: …Well, we're fighting, of course people get hurt…

SHIORI: I guess that makes sense.

SHIORI: _Rika's gladiator fights seem more intense than I thought…_

* * *

The two girls lapsed into silence for a while, but then more people began to arrive for the meeting. First was Kashie, but then Karen arrived, who sat down by Rika.

Shiori waited a few more minutes for anyone else to come, but eventually she cleared her throat and said, "Okay, so thanks for coming! This is just a time to uh, talk together about what's been doing on, to help well, process everything and get things off our chest."

For a few awkward minutes, no one said anything. _Guess it's up to me to get things started,_ thought Shiori. "I guess all of us are still thinking about the motive, right?" Everyone gave various nods and looks of agreement. Shiori took a breath, then continued. "I… I know just being made to participate made me feel bad, like somehow _I_ was responsible for making people talk about those horrible things…"

Kashie shifted a bit, clearly incredibly uncomfortable. "Um… I, I'm sorry I just ran away at the end. I should have stayed and explained, but I was just so, so scared of what people might say."

"Even if you had stayed," said Karen, finally looking out at the group instead of her own lap, "There would not have been much of a chance to… converse placidly. Everyone was panicking, and accusations were flying. I do not blame you for leaving."

Kashie looked at Karen gratefully. "Thank you." Then she stood up. "That was, uh, most of what I wanted to say, and things have been uh, kind of crazy, so I'm gonna head out, if that's okay?"

Karen gestured to the stairs. "Of course. And for the record, I do not believe you… well, that you lied about the last question." Kashie nodded and headed down the stairs.

Rika pulled up her knees and rested her arms and chin on them. Karen looked over at the sulking girl, then back at Shiori. "I have suggested to Rika that she pursue a different talent when we get out of here," she declared. "It is clear to me that fighting leads to nothing but distress and hurt."

Shiori was startled. _I mean, I kind of agree that being a gladiator is probably… not a long term career, but not fighting altogether?_

"I don't like hurting people, but I don't wanna stop fighting, either," murmured Rika, staring ahead blankly. "I'm really good at it. When I'm sparring, I feel… complete. Like everything else isn't important."

Karen grabbed Rika's shoulders. "Surely there is something else! All martial arts were made to hurt people; you can't deny that!"

Rika looked away, sniffling away a few tears. When she saw the tears, Karen jerked away, drawing into herself.

Looking back and forth between the two girls, Shiori finally said, "I think… martial arts can be a lot of things, and you can use it in many ways… Yeah, it can hurt, but so can other sports, and other jobs. Karen, it's up to you to decide you don't want to pursue Jujutsu anymore, but… I think it's best to support your friends in what they want, if you can?"

Rika looked back at Karen, hope in her eyes.

Karen suddenly stood up. "I… I need some time to think." She rushed down the stairs.

After a wide-eyed moment, Rika jerked forward to stand and follow Karen, but Shiori leaned over and gently grabbed her arm. "Wait," she cautioned, "Give her some space. I think… this is as much about her problems as it is about yours."

Rika looked from Shiori to Karen's retreating form below, then she wrenched her arm from Shiori's and said, "I think I need space too." With that she headed down the stairs as well, leaving Shiori alone in the tower.

Shiori blinked, then lowered her hand. "Right…" She took in a shuddering breath, then gave a long, aggravated shout. _Why is everything so hard? Everyone is mad, and I can't do anything! I promised I'd do something, and I can't, and…!_

She could feel tears creeping down her cheeks, and rubbed furiously at her eyes in a failing effort to stop them. _God, Shiori, how much have you cried in the past few days?_

Eventually, the tears dissipated, and Shiori was left sniffling. Now that she wasn't openly crying, Shiori decided to head back to the cabins. The walk back was quiet, which she appreciated. When she reached the bathroom building she ducked in and gave her face a wash. _Don't need to make it too obvious how bad of a cry-baby I am, even if I did admit it yesterday._ After examining herself in the mirror and deeming herself at least presentable enough for anyone she might run into, Shiori headed back out. And promptly saw Isao and an extremely displeased looking Ikeda walking out of their cabin.

"This isn't something you should rush into!" Isao was shouting, rushing around to prevent Ikeda from going any further.

"I'm not. And frankly, it is _none_ of your business," Ikeda retorted, "Just because you happened to be around when I opened it and you took it upon yourself to head over my shoulder does not give you the right to—"

Shiori rushed over. "Hey! What's going on here?!" _You just can't stop yourself from getting involved, can you?_

Isao stepped up to stand beside her. "Oh good, you can talk some sense into him. Ikeda got a note. From Akiko. She wants to meet up in the corral to 'settle things.' Now!"

Ikeda raised an eyebrow, looking halfway between impressed and annoyed. "You say it like it's dangerous. Akiko is a brute, but she's sloppy. For thing, she's being too obvious about this. I doubt she's actually contemplating murder; she just wants an excuse to fight. And when she does, it won't even be difficult to avoid her attacks, especially if she's angry. Besides, if my hunch is right, she might be too… preoccupied with other matters to take much notice of me."

Isao frowned. "What do you mean, preoccupied? What would she be—?"

"Take!' Shiori blurted out. "She was furious with him, there's no way she didn't send him a note too! Isao, we gotta go!" Without checking to see if Isao was following her, Shiori ran, past the barn, towards the barn and the corral.

Panting, Shiori skidded to a halt, barely avoiding running into the wooden fence. She stepped up on the bottom strut of the fence to get a better view. _Crap, they're already started!_

Take and Akiko seemed evenly matched. Akiko jabbed, one-two; Take dodged and ducked. He moved to sweep out her legs, but she jumped backwards before leaping back in. Akiko landed a hit on Take's left shoulder. He winced, but recovered enough to stomp harshly on Akiko's left foot. She reeled, then moved to push into him onto the ground; he caught her hands with his own. The two's hands locked, each trying to push the other down. They struggled for a moment, but then Akiko started to slip back ever so slightly.

"Now you've got her!" came a voice from across the corral. Shiori looked around the fight to see Homura and Seihiko standing outside the fence. Homura gave a little 'whoop!' and wrapped an arm around Seihiko, who looked very uncomfortable but didn't try to get free.

Take smirked. "Not so tough now—!"

Taking advantage of his distraction, Akiko released her hands and kicked Take square in the chest. He fell back hard, the wind knocked out of him.

"Guys, stop it!" Shiori shouted, voice cracking.

Akiko glanced to Shiori. Her face was fiery red with anger. But before she could reply, Take tackled her and brought them both to the ground. The fight dissolved into a flurry of scratches and kicks Shiori couldn't keep track of. One second Akiko was on top, with Take scratching at her arm, and then in the blink of a eye the positions reversed and Akiko was pulling at his hair, his signature hat having long since been knocked off.

As the fight began to get more violent, Homura slowly stopped cheering, staring at Take and Akiko scratch and bite with growing concern.

Having finally caught up, Isao ran up to stand at Shiori's side. "What in the—?"

"I— I don't know what to do!" Shiori stammered.

"Has anyone gone to get Mr. Saiki?"

Shiori couldn't seem to get enough air. "I don't know! Oh god, what is—?"

Suddenly, she saw a blur of red vault over the fence, and then Mr. Saiki standing over Akiko and Take, attempting to pull them apart.

"Get the fuck off!" Akiko screamed, thrashing as Mr. Saiki pulled at one arm.

"I will if you promise to stop fighting, damn it!" Mr. Saiki replied, voice harsher then Shiori had ever heard it.

Take, tangled in the mess of limbs, struck out wildly with his fists. In his struggles, he ended up missing Akiko and his punch hit Mr. Saiki in the side. Mr. Saiki immediately released Akiko. He stumbled back, clutching his side.

Shiori and Isao glanced to each other for a second, then Isao hooked his hands under Shiori's armpits and lifted her over the fence. She didn't even have time to be flustered by the move as she went to Mr. Saiki's side. "Are you okay?"

Mr. Saiki tried to straighten up, but winced. "Wasn't expecting it… also, I've never been punched before, so…"

Akiko and Take scrambled to their feet, but before they could go at each other again, the sound of the speakers turning on stopped them.

"You pick now to say something, and not when the fight started? Priorities…" muttered Mr. Saiki.

"Now what is this?!" came Monokuma's voice. "I don't mind a brawl; I would have prefered it be somewhere there were fewer witnesses, so if someone dies, we can actually have a trial, but whatever! However, there _has_ been a violation of the rules, so I must intervene!"

"What the hell!" said Take. "There's nothing in the rules about fighting!"

The smugness in Monokuma's voice was palpable. "True! But there _is_ a rule against harming camp staff, and it looks like Mr. Saiki has a pretty bad bruise." Take stiffened.

Mr. Saiki straightened up, wincing. "Since it was an accident, I don't think the punishment should be too harsh, right, Monokuma?"

"Maybe, but we can't let shenanigans like that off too lightly either!" Monokuma cackled. "Man, I'm excited! We haven't had to punish anyone for rule breaking yet. I've been waiting for this for so long, I almost couldn't _bear_ it!" He cackled that smug, obnoxious laugh of his.

Akiko snickered under her breath, giving Take a dirty look.

Mr. Saiki turned to her. "Don't get too cocky. You're both getting punished. This ridiculous prank war is on both of you."

Akiko scoffed. "Can you even prove I'm involved with that? Got Monokuma to give you security footage?"

"No, someone told me," Mr. Saiki said, careful in his words as he continued. "They were concerned these pranks might escalate into—"

"What the fuck?! Someone—?" Akiko set her gaze on Shiori. "I swear if you tattled—!"

"She didn't; It was me." Everyone whipped around to see who had spoken. Kokoa stood out on the path.

Akiko gaped, her expression somewhere between enraged and betrayed. "Coco? How?! Why would you do that?!"

"Because you could get hurt." Kokoa bit her lip, then turned away. "Seems like I wasn't fast enough to avoid that."

Take gave a harsh laugh. "Aw, did your little friend betray you and tell Teach about your plan to try and start a fight?"

Mr. Saiki frowned. "Actually—"

"Eh-hem," said Monokuma, "As much as I am digging this wonderfully despair-filled moment of betrayal, we need to decide on the punishment!"

Mr. Saiki looked to Take and Akiko. "Well, like I said this morning, they need to clean up their messes. Plus we'll need to have a talk so we can resolve whatever issue caused all this." He coughed into his fist. "Is… any additional punishment necessary, considering it was an accident?"

After a moment, Monokuma said, "Yep! Considering our bandit's reputation, he's gonna need a bit more to get the message through!"

Mr. Saiki gulped. "...Right. Right right. Well, then. Uh… Take, tonight you are… going to help me make dinner for everyone, _and_ clean up after. And while we cook, we can… have a talk."

Rolling his eyes, Take muttered, "Sure, Teach."

Monokuma chuckled. "You two better listen! Wouldn't want to make a more _extreme_ punishment necessary!" Take and Akiko both paused at that.

 _Extreme punishment…?_ Shiori thought. _Does he mean execution? I mean, with the crazy tech he has set up for the trial grounds, he must have more weapons hidden around here… God, now I'm gonna looking over my shoulder for hidden guns or something._

"Come on you two; we're getting you two patched up, then finding cleaning supplies." With that, Mr. Saiki led Akiko and Take away from the site of the skirmish, and towards the infirmary building. As they passed Kokoa, Akiko glared at her with such venom, Kokoa took a step back before bolting back towards the cabins.

As they left, Shiori looked over towards Homura and Seihiko. Homura seemed torn, but Seihiko just shook his head. He put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something Shiori couldn't hear, and with that the two walked away.

"You okay?"

Shiori turned around to find Isao with a expression of concern on his face.

She nodded a bit, and walked back over to carefully climb over the fence."Yeah… I mean, no one's hurt too badly; no one's… y'know, dead. I just… Ugh, why did this happen?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Shiori and Isao jumped at the new voice; she almost fell off the fence in her shock. Stolling confidently around from behind a tree past was Ikeda, hands in his pockets.

Her expression hardened as she jumped down. "If you just want me to recount the events that led up to this, I'm not gonna. That wasn't even what I meant by the question. I just wish people didn't feel the need to insult or hurt each other."

Ikeda shook his head. "It isn't hard to see that two big egos like Akiko and Take would clash eventually. To think they wouldn't would be to deny their natures."

Isao frowned and stepped up next to Shiori in solidarity, but remained silent.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. _Glad to know you're with me on this._ "Being mean and picking fights aren't 'nature.'"

"And what if they aren't? People aren't so quick to change." Ikeda's expression softened, but Shiori was still wary. "Just as it would take a great deal of hardship to make you cruel, it takes more than offers of kindness or friendship to change people like them for good."

Raising an eyebrow, Shiori asked, "Is that meant to be comforting?"

"Take it as you will," Ikeda replied. "If you aren't open to discussion right now, I won't press you. Good luck with your plans." He said no more as he walked away towards the mess hall.

Once Ikeda was gone, Isao let out a held breath. "... I never know how to deal with that guy."

Shiori nodded and murmured, "Neither do I… and what was with all the nature and change talk? Of course people can change if they try. And why shouldn't we try to help when we can?" Shiori almost went on to tell Isao about her conversation with Ikeda that morning, but Isao seemed to be deep in thought. She decided against it. "How about we do something until dinner? I haven't gotten to really try the archery stuff yet."

"Sure," Isao agreed.

* * *

The rest of the day past in a haze. Shiori and Isao awkwardly attempted to use the archery equipment until it was around dinner time, then ate a quiet dinner with Kashie and Gorou. Shiori noticed several group that had been sitting together were now split; Akiko and Kokoa, Rika and Karen, not to mention the Lil' Hotshots. Mr. Saiki shooed Take to the kitchen to clean up as soon as they finished eating. The whole affair was tense and silent.

Just as dinner was finishing up, it began to rain— a torrential summer storm. Shiori retreated to her cabin a bit early in an attempt to miss the worst of the rain. Even then, she ended up soaked. Doing her best wring out her clothes out the window, she laid them out to drive as she changed into her pajamas.

Karen was already in bed, sitting up, reading what looked like a catalogue from the nature center. Just as Shiori was starting to get under the covers, Homura rushed in and shook off the water dripping off her like a dog.

"Whew, what a storm!" she said, wringing out her soaking hair. "I mean seriously, there's lightning and thunder so loud it could give you a heart attack—" Homura continued chattering aimlessly about the storm.

Shiori looked at the puddle forming on the floor, then cautiously back up at Homura.

"—How are we even going to be able to walk around if the paths are all mud? Not all of us have boots that can withstand…" Homura trailed off when she saw Shiori's gaze.

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Well? Are you finished… regaling us about the storm?"

Homura shifted her feet. "Um…"

 _I'm too tired to beat around the bush,_ thought Shiori. "Why didn't you stop Take from fighting Akiko?"

Glancing between her too cabinmates, Karen said, "Wait, is that why Take and Akiko were both so… pediment at dinner, scowling and all that?"

Shiori didn't bother correcting her, still waiting for Homura to answer.

After a long moment, Homura finally said, "I didn't think it would hurt. They didn't have weapons, or even any intent outside working out their anger, so I figured they'd fight a bit and then be done with the whole… feud thing. And it's not like Take was completely unjustified in wanting to get back at Akiko; she started it…" She sighed. "Guess Seihiko was right when he said it wouldn't stay be so simple… Heh heh! But hey! It's all done now, so no need to like, worry about it!"

Shiori wanted to argue, to say that things could very easily get worse, but she was so tired from all of the drama of the day that she just asked, "Where's Kokoa?"

Homura shrugged. "That's the weird thing; I think she's staying in the mess hall? She wanted to keep working on some chocolate recipe and said, 'The rules don't say that we have to sleep in the cabin, so I'm staying here.' Mr. Saiki tried to argue with her, but when he couldn't convince her he gave her one of his spare blankets."

"That's…" Shiori didn't have the mental energy to finish that thought. "Let's just go to sleep."

* * *

And sleep Shiori did; a deep and dreamless sleep, at that. So deep she was only vaguely aware of some sort of noise going on for a few seconds. Then she jolted awake as someone started shaking her. "Shiori! Shiori wake up! We gotta go!"

Shiori, finally awake, sat to see Homura above her. "What? What's going on?"

"The barn is on fire! Mr. Saiki called us over the intercom to help; We gotta go before it spreads to the forest or the other buildings!"

That got her attention. "Oh! Oh oh oh!" She stumbled out of bed, threw on her shoes, and followed Homura out the door.

"Karen's already on her way over!" panted Homura as they ran.

As the came up the path, Shiori gasped. The barn was truly ablaze, flames having engulfed almost half of the barn and some of the corral fence. Already Take, Akiko, Rika, and Karen were throwing buckets full of water at the fire. Kenji held the end of a hose stretched taught from the nature center as Isao and Kashie filled more buckets. Father away, Seihiko and Remy ran back towards the group with giant pots from the kitchen to fill with water. All the while Mr. Saiki frantically tried to beat back the flames with a fire extinguisher and holler out directions.

"Homura! Shiori! Search the other buildings for more fire extinguishers!"

They both nodded without saying a word. Shiori ran to the infirmary. Searching frantically in every corner, she finally found a small extinguisher and ran back to the barn. "I found one!"

Mr. Saiki quickly grabbed it from her and handed her his own, now empty. The fire was slowly starting to fade, but still burned brightly. "Can you carry a full bucket?"

"Probably not!"

"Then help fill. God, I wish we had another hose."

Shiori ran other to the group at the hose and quickly got into a rhythm; when one of the people throwing buckets came for a new bucket, she took the empty one as Isao handed them a full one. She'd then put the empty container in the line to be filled, which Kashie dutifully kept moving. Kenji's hands shook so much at least some water tended to slosh out onto the still damp earth, but he held onto the hose.

Finally, after what must have been at least an hour and a half, the fire was out. One half of the barn was mostly intact, but the half closer to the corral was in complete ruin, wood turned to black charcoal. Everyone panted, coming down from the adrenaline rush.

When he finally caught his breath, Take made a move towards the barn, but Mr. Saiki said, "Wait! It's not safe yet!"

But Take refused to listen. He carefully stepped over the collapsed fence, tied his kerchief around his mouth to avoid the smoke carefully picked his ware through the rubble.

Mr. Saiki sighed and followed after him, "I can't believe you'd—" Take stopped short and Mr. Saiki ran into his back. "Ow! What…?"

Take seemed to be frozen, eyes wide. Mr. Saiki peaked around him, then stepped back in shock, looking sick.

"Well...?" asked Rika. "What is it?"

Feeling a horrible dread build in her stomach, Shiori carefully followed the path Take and Mr. Saiki had taken through the rubble and went to duck between them.

Mr. Saiki, snapped out of his daze, shouted, "Shiori don't—!"

* * *

 _The smell hit her first, reeking like meat left in an oven for too long. Shiori covered her nose and mouth to block it out, but it was too late._

 _First she saw blackened shapes, charred almost beyond recognition, but she quickly realized they were not shapes, but legs. Then she saw the arrow, half-embedded in the body's side. Because it_ was _a body, laying curled against the remains of the barn door._

 _The body of Kokoa Uzumaki, the Penultimate Chocolatier._

* * *

 _And a body has been discovered! I feel bad about our dear chocolatier, but such is the fate of characters in a killing game. For just a bit of an explanation as to why this chapter took so long, it was a combination of real life obligations and writers block. I hope next chapter will go faster, but like all investigations it takes some extra planning, so I'm not sure. As always, please review with your thoughts and speculations, and if you'd like to join the discord for the story feel free to PM me. Until next time!_


	15. Chapter 2 (part 4)

Shiori screamed. A short but terrified shriek as she clung to Reijirou's side. He heard the other students begin to ask what was going on, but before he could answer, Monokuma's voice boomed out over the intercom. "A body has been discovered! Everyone, please report to the barn! After a period of investigation, the class trial will begin! Upupu! Work hard to find the culprit everyone!"

Although he couldn't see them, Reijirou could sense the way the announcement set a fire of urgency beneath the students outside the barn.

"There's a body in there?!" cried Kashie.

"Wait…" said Homura, "So that smell is—? Oh God…"

"Who…?" Rika couldn't finish the question.

Reijirou tried to clear his throat, but just ended up coughing on the remnants of smoke. _How do I even say this?_ "It's… it's Kokoa, everyone. It's Kokoa."

"Fuck!" Akiko swore.

Reijirou glanced at Kokoa's body again. "Could… someone bring something to cover her? I don't… I don't want people to have to see this."

"Oh God!" said Homura again, sounding like she might be sick.

Reijirou heard a creak from behind him, and there peaking through the gap in the wall he, Take, and Shiori has entered the barn through, were Gorou and Ikeda. Gorou's face paled when he spotted Kokoa's body, but Ikeda just frowned and shook his head.

Just then Akiko pushed Gorou and Ikeda out of the gap. "Out of my way!" She planted herself in front of the body. Raising her voice, she said, "I ain't letting any of you fuckers mess with her, ya hear?" That last bit she aimed right at Take.

Take raised his eyebrow. "You think I got a reason to? Nah. I'll leave that to someone else, thanks."

"And I wouldn't dream of tampering," replied Ikeda, following her into the barn. "But I would like to investigate, if you don't mind?"

Akiko shrugged. "Go ahead. Just means if I catch you messing with shit you're in easy punching distance."

 _That's right, we have do the investigation. No time to even process this…_ Reijirou turned his attention to Shiori. Her breathing had evened out, but she still trembled a bit. He kneeled down to be eye to eye with her. "You okay?"

Shiori nodded slightly. "I… I'll be okay, I just… I wasn't expecting to see that."

"I don't think any of us were," Reijirou replied.

From outside the barn, Seihiko shouted, "I got a tarp for the… to cover Kokoa."

Reijirou jumped a bit when he heard the front door rattle. "The front door won't open!" shouted Rika.

"Kokoa's blocking it!" Akiko snapped back. "Besides, the door's locked, idiot."

Glancing at the door, Reijirou saw the large wooden bar between the double doors' handles that locked the barn from the inside. Then he turned back to Akiko. "Hey. No need to be snappish."

Akiko responded by flipping him off.

"I'll go back through the hole in the wall and bring it," said Shiori, but Gorou stopped her when she reached the gap.

"Let me do it," he said, and Shiori just gave him a grateful nod.

Reijirou pulled out his Monopad and pulled up the new Monokuma File. _The investigation is the only point in this process I can really help with, so better get going on it._

The Monokuma File read, 'The victim is Kokoa Uzumaki, the Penultimate Chocolatier. The time of death was between 6:00 and 6:15 am. The body's legs have been severely severely burned, and there are minor burns on other various parts of the body. The only other physical wound is a piercing wound caused by an arrow embedded in the body's right side. Additionally, there are signs of smoke inhalation in the lungs.'

 _That's strange,_ Reijirou thought, _The cause of death isn't listed this time. I wonder why that would be…_

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Monokuma File #2

* * *

When he looked up from the Monopad, Reijirou saw Gorou carefully covering the lower half of Kokoa's body with the tarp. Akiko watched him like a hawk.

Reijirou made his way over to them, careful of any debris on the ground. "Akiko, I'm just gonna take a quick look, okay?"

Akiko stepped aside, fidgeting but still watching Kokoa's body.

He paused, then said, "Listen, about yesterday—"

"Save it," Akiko growled back. "I went along with it because Take got off lucky on that punch. I ain't risking Monokuma deciding to pull out the 'extreme punishment' just to avoid scrubbing paint and then sitting in your office for an hour listening to you try to teach us to be nice and shit. It's done now. Leave it and get to investigating."

Biting his lip, Reijirou backed down. _Looks like I've hit a wall on that front. It's not like either of them really took me seriously when I was talking to them yesterday…_ They'd hardly exchanged two words while he supervised them cleaning the barn and the back wall of the mess hall, and had said _nothing_ while he tried to prod them into talking out their issues in his office. In the end, he'd been left with nothing else to do but give them frankly empty platitudes about 'fighting not being the answer,' which had sounded hacked even as he'd said them.

He knelt down to get a closer look at Kokoa's body, curled up against the door. He was immediately drawn to the arrow in the body's side. The first thing he noticed about the wound was that the arrow wasn't very deep, just enough so that the head was completely— _Nope nope nope. Don't finish that thought Reijirou._ As he looked closer he noticed something puzzling. He didn't see it from far away because Kokoa's dress was black, but the wound didn't actually have much blood around it, and neither did the ground around the body. _Is that enough blood for her to have bled out? I'm not sure…_

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Arrow Wound

* * *

Behind him, Reijirou heard a few more people enter the barn. Small gasps as people saw Kokoa's body, whispers as they gathered into groups. The only conversation he picked up on was one between Shiori and Gorou.

"Where were you all this time?" Shiori asked. "I didn't see you anywhere helping fight the fire... not that I think you weren't helping! I just—"

"Relax," said Gorou. "Mr. Saiki had me out back making a fire break so that the fire wouldn't spread into the forest. Ikeda must have had the same thought, 'cause he was already there when I got started."

Shiori sighed in relief. "Oh, okay. I guess… that explains why you're kind of covered in dirt."

"I was digging a trench basically, what did you expect?!"

They shared a hesitant laugh that quickly died, the situation coming back to them after the quick moment of levity.

Reijirou went back to examining Kokoa's body. He didn't dare look under the cloth, knowing his stomach wouldn't be able to handle the sight a second time, so he moved up. At this new angle, he saw that Kokoa's hands were up to her chest, clutching onto… something. It must be something small, because he couldn't see any of it through her hands. _Maybe it had something to do with why she was at the barn, but how will we find out what it is?_ Instinctively he reached to open her hands, but then he caught Akiko's icy glare. It clearly said, 'Touch her and I'll maim you.' _Guess it's gonna stay a mystery for now._

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Object in Kokoa's Hands

* * *

With that, Reijirou didn't see much else to examine on Kokoa. As he stood he saw Ikeda eyeing him, so he stepped out of the way to let him check the body. Looking around, he saw that Karen, Homura, and Seihiko had been the ones he heard entering. Karen was hovering by Ikeda, who ignored her in favor of examining the body, and Take was whispering to the other members the Lil' Hotshots conspiratorially. Homura looked perplexed, but Seihiko just looked exasperated. He tried to move past Take, but the bandit grabbed his harm and whispered into his ear. Seihiko paled.

Reijirou almost ran over to go check what was going on, but then Shiori called to him. "Mr. Saiki! Did you uh… find anything?"

He turned to Shiori and Gorou. "Just a few things." He related what he'd found to them.

Shiori shook her head. "God, this… this so awful. For her to have died like this… How did the fire even start? Do you think it was lightning from the storm last night?"

"I doubt it," Gorou murmured. "The storm was over by like, 2:00 am or something."

Reijirou raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

Gorou groaned. "Yes, I was still awake. I have insomnia; sue me, you mother hen."

"Fine, fine, but about the fire," Reijirou said, moving back to the previous subject, "All I know is that at about quarter past 6:00 I woke up to a big bang, then I smelled smoke. When I looked out the window and saw the smoke, I realized the only building it could be coming from was the barn, so I made the announcement, grabbed the fire extinguisher under my desk, and ran to the barn."

"So the fire had to have started before that," said Gorou, "After the rain stopped."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Mr. Saiki's Account

* * *

"You heard a bang?" asked Shiori. "I wonder what that could have been from. Either way, thanks for telling us. It'll be useful for putting together the timeline. Well, uh, do we start investigating, or wait for Isao and Kashie?"

"They said they were gonna stay out of the barn," Gorou replied. "We can meet up with them when we're done in here."

Shiori hesitated for a second, then perked up. "Okay, we can do that! And honestly I'm glad we don't have to wait, because if I had to wait to investigate some of the craziness in here, I might have exploded."

Reijirou frowned. "What sort of craziness?"

"Well, that for one," said Gorou, pointing back behind Reijirou towards the loft.

Reijirou turned and gasped when he saw what Gorou meant. "Holy crap, it that a bow?"

Indeed, there was a very large bow, set on the edge of the loft. It pointed down towards the near side of the front doors. There was no arrow in it, and it seemed undamaged by the fire, which hadn't reached that half of the barn.

Shiori made her way over to try and look at the bow from below, but she struggled, getting up on her tiptoes. "I can't really see anything from down here. There's maybe something in the wood right under the bow, but I can't tell what it is. Where'd the ladder to the loft go?"

"Right here." Gorou kicked at the ladder where is lay discarded on the barn floor. He bent down to try to lift it. "Huh… uh, little help?"

Reijirou quickly picked up the other side of the ladder and helped Gorou lift and maneuver it so it was once again set against the loft. He then gestured to the students who headed up the ladder first.

As he headed up behind them, he heard Shiori gasp. "What the heck? The bow is mounted into the wood of the loft! I must have been seeing the screws from below."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Mounted Bow

* * *

Gorou raised an eyebrow. "Why the heck would someone do that?"

Finally having made it to the bow, Reijirou suddenly remembered something. "Wait, I think Take mentioned something about securing the barn a few days ago, and he had an arrow with him then…"

Akiko must have heard him, because just then she shouted across the barn, "I swear if you did this Snake you're gonna wish Monokuma would execute you when I'm done with you!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but I had nothing to do with this!" Take sneered back. "Why would I set my own base on fire? Besides, it's not like I could have foreseen this shit when I set up security."

"Doesn't mean it's not your fault!"

"You also could have, you know, gotten a second opinion on this stuff," Seihiko added under his breath.

Take turned to him slowly with a fake looking smile. "What was that, buddy?"

Seihiko stiffened, then went back to examining the burnt barn wall.

"Now that I think about it, how would that work?" Shiori pondered. "Would Monokuma count an accidental death?"

Reijirou frowned. "Honestly, I think he would." _God, is bad to hope it wasn't an accident? What would be worse?_

"Guys, look at this." Gorou caught Reijirou's attention with a wave and gestured down at what he'd found. Caught on the edge of the loft was a strange wooden wedge, maybe four or five inches tall. Screwed into one side was a small metal loop, and tied to that was a thin but sturdy looking rope.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Wooden Wedge and Rope

* * *

Shiori looked puzzled. "What even is this thing?"

"No idea…" Reijirou turned back towards the rest of the barn and called, "Take, we found something over here. Could you tell us if it's part of your… security?"

Take pondered for a second, then scoffed. "No thanks Teach! If I'm in the hot seat for this crap, I'm keeping that stuff to myself, at least until the trial! Figure it out yourself, since you're the 'oh so wise' adult around here."

"That just makes you seem more suspicious!" Gorou shouted.

"Suspects have the right to avoid disclosing information that could self-incriminate," Ikeda pointed out from his place kneeling next to the body. "In some ways it's smarter to avoid giving away too much information at this stage anyway."

"And," Karen pipped in, "We do not know if the… machinations of the traps will be… relevant to the case." Ikeda gave her a pointed look, and she coughed. "Of course they, uh, _could_ be relevant… But as Ikeda said, at this time some… digression is advisable."

"Discretion," Ikeda corrected.

Karen blushed. "Right. Discretion."

"I—! That—!" Gorou sputtered. "He's still being an _ass_!"

"You can say that again!" Akiko laughed.

Take brought a hand to his heart. "I am hurt! Accused on all sides, even though it was my hideout that got burned up! At least I have my loyal Lil' Hotshots to back me up."

Seihiko shuffled his feet awkwardly, but Homura nodded. "Yeah! The traps probably aren't even important. The fire is what we should be focusing on!"

"It's fine," said Shiori in a tone that made it clear it wasn't. "We can figure out the traps without him. Then we can decide if it's important."

"Where's the other end of this rope…?" Reijirou picked up the rope tied to the wedge and pulled it just a bit. As the rope went taught, he followed it to where it was tied to another, bigger metal loop. This one was mounted into the inner top corner of one of the front doors, the left one closer to the loft. "Well then."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Metal Loop

* * *

Shiori looked back and forth between the bow, wedge, and door, then snapped her fingers in realization. "The wedge and rope are the mechanism to set off the bow!" She whispered in excitement. She knelt down and set the wedge into a crack in the loft's wood floor, the pulled back the bow's string over it. "See, you could set the arrow in and use the wedge to hold the string in place, like in a crossbow. Then when the front door is opened, the rope attached to the door would pull the wedge out and the bow would loose."

Reijirou blinked in surprise. "Woah, good thinking Shiori."

"You secretly into physics or something?" Gorou asked, teasingly.

Shiori blushed and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Just a really visual thinker I guess. I've always been good at looking at things and seeing how they fit together or could be used in new ways."

 _That makes sense,_ Reijirou thought, _Considering how she was able to work out how Gorou used the masking curtain to move the body last trial._

Turning to look down at the mess down bellow on the barn floor, Reijirou said, "Notice anything new from up here?" He looked around at the scene bellow. Homura and Seihiko seemed to be focused on examining the burnt part of the barn, looking for how the fire started. Take leaned against the half burnt back door and watched them. Akiko remained at her post by the body, glaring as Ikeda looked back and forth between it and his Monopad. As Reijirou looked, he saw the floor closer to the back door strangely had much more debris covering it.

Shiori walked carefully along the edge of the loft, taking everything in. "Isn't it weird that so many of the tools from the wood-working area are on the ground?" The back corner of the barn, the former wood-working area, was a twisted mass of burnt wood and metal, but as Shiori said, a bunch of the smaller tools were strewn on the ground, mostly intact.

Gorou followed Shiori to the other side of the loft and looked down over the edge. He frowned. "What's with all this wood? It looks like a busted up crate."

Reijirou made his way over as well. Sure enough, right below the loft on this side were a few broken pieces of what might have once been a wooden crate. What caught his eye more than the crate, however, was the very long piece of thick rope clearly tied to another metal loop embedded into what was left of one side of the crate. The end of the rope was burned.

"I'm getting the feeling this was part of another trap," he mused to himself.

Gorou looked back up at him and swallowed thickly. "Yeah, getting that sense too."

"The door even has the same metal ring," added Shiori. "Although it looks the fire got to this one."

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Tools on Barn Floor

Truth Bullet Obtained: Broken Crate

Truth Bullet Updated: Metal Loops

* * *

 _It looks like both traps have been used or messed with in some way,_ Reijirou thought. _But what does that tell us about what happened?_

The three poked around the loft a bit more, but found nothing of note. Reijirou did notice that, although part of the barn's far wall had collapsed, the roof didn't seem to be damaged enough to be in immediate danger of falling down. _Still, I might put some warning signs up to discourage people coming in here after the trial._ A sudden dark thought occurred to him. _Assuming they get through the trial..._ _No, that's not helpful. Don't need to dwell on worst case scenarios._

Shiori stuck her head out of the window to look around, then perked up and began waving. "Kashie! Isao! We're almost done in here!"

Reijirou looked down at the scene outside, and saw Isao and Kashie stood at the tree line. Isao cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back, "We found something interesting! Come meet us here and we'll show you!"

"Okay!" Shiori gave a thumbs up, pulled her head back inside, and turned to Reijirou and Gorou. "To outside!" And with that she marched back across the loft to the ladder.

Gorou watched Shiori go, then looked back at Reijirou with a slightly perplexed look. Reijirou just shrugged. _I guess Shiori deals with tragedy by keeping a positive attitude, at least until the trial ends. But it can seem a bit strange when you're just sort of following her around._

When they got back down to the main level of the barn, Take and his cohort had left, and now Remy and Kenji were poking around, not particularly focused but still trying to get a sense of the space.

Just as he was following Shiori and Gorou out of the barn, Remy caught Reijirou's arm. "Oh hey. What is it?" Reijirou asked. "Do you need to talk or—?"

Remy used his other hand to grab Kenji and pull him other. "Kenji wanted to tell you something."

Kenji looked away, face red. "No, I just—" Remy gave him a pointed look, and Kenji sighed. "Where are guys planning to look for clues?"

"Well, outside the barn, maybe the mess hall and Kokoa's cabin? Why?"

Kenji took a moment, seemingly trying to decide what to say. "Check the nature center too," he finally muttered before rushing away. Remy just gave Reijirou a nod before following.

 _What could he have found in the nature center he wanted us to see? At least Remy is got Kenji to tell me._ Reijirou considered that as the group walked around to the back of the barn. Finally they reached Isao and Kashie at the tree line.

"Okay, what did you guys find?" Gorou sounded, well, not impatient, but ready to get the point.

"We wanted to see if we could find anything that pointed to how the fire started," Isao said, then down into the bushes, "And we didn't find that, but…" He pulled out a long, thick rope with an intimidating four pronged hook tied to one end.

Shiori carefully took it and turned it over in her hands. "What the heck? It looks like a grappling hook." She struggled a bit to find the end of the rope, then scrunched up her face in disgust. "Ew, it's like, damp on the end?"

Gorou leaned in to get a closer look, then immediately backed away, hand to his nose. "Is that gasoline?" Reijirou took a sniff, and he too smelled the distinct odor of gasoline.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Rope and Hook

* * *

Kashie wrung her hands. "Do you think… the gasoline has to do with how the fire got started?"

"It's definitely possible," said Shiori.

Isao frowned. "But is there a way to prove it?"

"Wouldn't we need chemical analysis or something?" Gorou suggested.

"What I'm wondering is how the gas got on the rope," Reijiou added. "If it was put there on purpose I'd think it would be so the rope burned faster, but the rope is fine."

Shiori turned back to Isao and Kashie. "Did you guys find anything else over here?" They shook their heads. "Then I want to check out the mess hall."

Gorou raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Shiori gasped. "Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know! Kokoa stayed in the mess hall all night to cook more."

Kashie, Isao, and Gorou all looked at each other.

Reijirou nodded. "True. I checked on her before I went to bed around 11:00, and she was still up."

"Wait, wait," said Isao, running a hand through his hair, "I thought the mess hall doors were locked all night, but Kokoa died before nighttime was over. How did she get out of the mess hall?"

"Well, just because the doors might be locked from the outside doesn't necessarily mean they lock from the inside," Shiori pointed out.

Suddenly another possibility occurred to Reijirou, and he blushed. "...Also, I don't think I locked the door to my room in the mess hall. If she was quiet, Kokoa could have snuck through my room and my office to get outside."

"So _how_ Kokoa got out of the mess hall—" Gorou concluded, "—Is less of an issue than what happened _after_."

"Can we still check the mess hall, just in case?" asked Shiori. "I don't want us to miss something important."

They all agreed, and after a short walk they reached the mess hall. Immediately Reijirou went to the door to his room, and discovered that, yes, it was unlocked. _When did I get so careless? I mean, it probably isn't too big of a problem normally, but if Kokoa was only able to leave because of my mistake—_ He shook his head and headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen looked a bit out of sorts; although Kokoa had put all of her ingredients away before leaving, various dirty bowls and utensils sat in the sink. He saw Gorou looking at a paper taped to the door of one of the walk on freezers. "Got something?"

"Maybe…" As Gorou gestured to the paper, Reijirou saw it was a log sheet of some sort. His yes went to the last entry. "See, I noticed yesterday that Kokoa put this up to keep track of when she put which batches of chocolate in the freezer. And see this last one? It was from last night at 5:45 am. She couldn't have left here before then."

"Which puts when she got to the barn sometime between then and around 6:00," Reijirou finished.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Fridge Log Sheet

* * *

"Ugh," sighed Shiori from where she was searching through the kitchen drawers. "There are like, multiple sets of matches and lighters, so I can't tell is someone took one from here."

"If they did, it would have had to have been before nighttime," said Gorou, "Unless Kokoa brought it? But I can't think of a reason she would do that… Maybe there's another place with matches."

Kashie tilted her head in thought. "Where else could someone get something to light a fire with though?"

"The nature center?" Isao suggested. "Like, with the campfire stuff?"

Reijirou snapped his finger. "Yes! Actually, I definitely want to check that out."

Isao frowned, but shrugged. "Okay then."

As they walked over to the nature center, a thought occurred to Reijirou. _There's no way that burning down the barn doesn't count as breaking the rule on destroying camp property. I guess Monokuma is holding off on addressing it until the trial, since it probably has to do with Kokoa's death? But if whoever set it doesn't end up being the culprit, what will Monokuma do? I don't know what other punishments I can come up with that might be effective but don't cross the line._ He had a feeling that Monokuma only let the punishment for Take punching be so lenient because it had been Reijirou getting punched. If it had been a more major rule break, Monokuma might have insisted on something more severe. _And I do not want to know what 'severe' might mean, if 'extreme' is death._

When the group entered the nature center, they saw Rika already examining one of the lower cupboards. She looked up when she saw them. "Oh hi! How's uh… investigating going?"

"We've found some things that could be important," said Shiori.

"How are you holding up?" Kashie asked, wringing her hands. "You weren't really, uh, awake for the last investigation…"

"It's a bit confusing," Rika admitted, "But I did think of something when I was looking at how the barn burned. It kind of reminded me of the pyrotechnics we used in some special matches, but I don't remember how those worked, so I've just been… looking everywhere for something that reminded me of what we used? Just in case."

"We're looking for sort of the same thing," said Isao. "Mostly just for things that can start a fire. So like, matches, lighters, that sort of thing."

Rika gestured at the cupboard. "I've looked in a bunch of these and I don't think I saw matches or anything, but I haven't started on the drawers in the big table or any of the shelves."

With that everyone went back to investigating the room; Gorou went to the drawers, Isao and Kashie to the shelves of plants, and Shiori to the other end of the cupboards from where Rika continued her search. Reijirou immediately went to the back shelf, which held larger items like bags of potting soil or fertilizer, and pieces of equipment like shovels and hiking sticks. What caught his attention more was the chainsaw on the lower shelf, or rather, what was beside it: a standard sized gas container. He carefully removed the top and peaked in. "Empty," he said to himself.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Empty Gas Container

* * *

Suddenly Shiori leaned over his shoulder to get a look, leaving the cupboard she'd been combing behind. "Could it have held enough to make the barn burn?"

"Probably," Reijirou muttered, "But really, the barn is already made of wood, so I'm wondering why whoever set the fire felt the need to use gasoline."

Shiori bit her lip. "I know, but it seems likely given— Wait, what's this?" She reached around him to something behind the gas container. As she pulled it out, Reijirou saw it was a necklace with a wooden snake charm.

Kashie looked over. "Isn't that one of those necklaces Take made for his club, or… whatever it is?"

"Yeah, but why would it be here?"

"Maybe… Take wanted something from in here to improve the barn and just… left it?" Isao suggested, but the strain in his voice betrayed his doubts.

Gorou raised an eyebrow. "Why would he have left it by the gas though?"

Reijirou looked back at the necklace. "Why indeed…"

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Snake Necklace

* * *

Rika perked up. "Oh yeah! I saw Take and Homura and Seihiko heading back towards the cabins earlier. Should we check on them?"

"Take is probably just stealing Kokoa's shit," Gorou snorted. "God, even if he isn't the culprit, I am so done with him acting all superior and like he's in charge. At least Akiko minds her own business when she causes trouble. Heck, I'm kind of happy she tried to take him down a peg."

Rika frowned. "Is something going on with Take and Akiko? I mean, I noticed them glaring at each other a bunch at dinner yesterday…"

Isao kind of glanced at Rika, then looked away. "Oh boy, that's… a big can of worms."

"Uh…" Shiori took a breath. "The short version is that Akiko put graffiti on the barn because she was mad at Take for lying in the Never Have I Ever game, I think? So then Take messed up a mural Akiko painted. And _then_ Akiko challenged Take to a fist fight; they fought a little but Mr. Saiki broke it up."

Kashie paused, then turned to Reijirou and said, "Kokoa was the one who brought you to make them stop, right?"

"She told me she was concerned about Akiko, yes," Reijirou explained, "But I went to the barn to break up the fight because—"

He was interrupted by a familiar chime. "Alright campers!" Monokuma's voice rang out. "Investigation time is finished! Hopefully you used your time wisely, 'cause it's time for the Class Trial! Everyone meet at the fire pit! Upupu!"

Sighing, Reijirou stood up. "Time to go."

"Already?" Rika drooped. "But I didn't even help find any clues…"

"Finding the clues isn't everything," Shiori said as reassurance. "We also have to put all the clues together."

"Everything comes down to the trial," said Gorou, his tone somber.

Isao looked around at everyone, clearly nervous but with a forced smile on his face. "It… It'll be fine! We managed to solve the last case; surely this one isn't all that more complicated?"

Kashie tugged on her hood. "I still feel pretty confused…"

"None of that!" Shiori scolded. Everyone jumped, even Reijirou. "Let's get going to the fire pit."

Everyone filed out of the nature center and began making their way to the fire pit. Along the way the rest of students joined the parade of people. Reijirou let himself fall towards the back to back to make sure everyone was accounted for. _Ten, eleven, twelve… wait where's—?_

"Loose someone?"

Reijirou jumped at the sudden voice at his side. He turned and saw Ikeda walking beside him. "Geez, don't do that." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, that's everyone."

Ikeda looked out at everyone. "So what do you think?"

Reijirou took a breath. "About what happened? I mean, I have thoughts, but I'm not one of the people having to decide who… did this."

"That is precisely why I want to hear what you have to say," Ikeda replied. "It would be foolish of me to dismiss all of the investigating you did just because you will be silenced in the trial."

Reijirou considered the interrogator. _That's… oddly comforting. Maybe. He does seem to be, well, not trusting me but not completely shutting me out like basically everyone else. Especially poor Karen._

"I think it's going to be important to work out the exact series of events," he said carefully, "And since so much happened in the middle of the night alibis are going to be mostly non-existent. We'll have to look elsewhere for evidence to point to the killer."

Ikeda raised an eyebrow. "But of course. Glad to know you're not completely oblivious. But I think you know I want something more concrete than that."

"Now you're just asking me to accuse someone," Reijirou said. "I don't feel comfortable doing that. It's too early."

But Ikeda was undeterred. "Come on now," he pressed. "You were the first at the scene that we know of. You must have noticed something suspicious. Someone who came in from a strange direction, or who didn't act shocked. Something!"

"Oh my God Ikeda!" Reijirou turned and saw Shiori waiting for them just outside the fire pit area. "Now you're bothering Mr. Saiki too? Why do you have to be so pushy?"

"I'm an interrogator," Ikeda said blankly. "It's my job to get information from people however I can."

Shiori crossed her arms. "Well, you're not gonna get far by being a—"

"It's fine, Shiori." Reijirou took a breath. "No, I didn't really pay attention to where people came from or how they were acting beyond how they were helping put out the _fire_ threatening to spread to _whole camp._ Look, I'm happy to share the clues we found, and how I think some of them fit together, but really, I doubt anything I noticed about how people were acting is something you haven't already seen and noted for yourself."

Sighing, Ikeda said, "Fine; just one last thing. I examined Kokoa's body and the way the fire spread based on the burn marks. It burned fast and produced a lot of smoke. And the ventilation in the barn is not ideal, so death by smoke inhalation could have happened in less than ten minutes." He paused for a moment before adding, "And I… apologize for pressuring you both." Then he walked past them towards the fire pit.

* * *

Truth Bullet Obtained: Ikeda's Account

* * *

With Ikeda gone, Reijirou gave Shiori a curious look. "Do you, uh, want to explain what you meant when you said he was bothering me 'too'?"

"Right, that…" Shiori licked her lips. "He's just been really intense with me the last couple days. Questions my motives and pushing me to speculate about what was gonna happen with all the Take Akiko drama. It's… I feel like he maybe thinks I'm smart, but he thinks they way to get me talking about this stuff is to be pushy and mysterious and— ugh." She ran her hands down her face.

"Have you told Ikeda this?"

"Sort of…?" Shiori made a face. "I mean, I told him to stop trying to just get me speculate, and that I'm not gonna become a… cold, logical investigator just cause he thinks I should. The attention would be less weird if he actually tried to hang out with everyone, not just bugging me when he wants something? Like, I get if he's suspicious, but he could at least try to be social."

Reijirou chuckled a bit. "Okay, this is clearly getting you worked up. Take a few breaths and get focused. I'll talk to Ikeda after all of this. I won't mention what you said unless you say it's okay."

Pausing to breathe, Shiori finally said, "Maybe don't? Definitely talk to him, but I don't know how he's gonna react so…"

"You'd rather I be the bad guy than you?" Reijirou asked with a small smirk.

"That's not what I meant!" Shiori was laughing now.

At that point they reached the fire pit, and with a rumble, the elevator rose out of the ground, just as it had the last time they came here. Satisfied that Shiori was okay, Reijirou made his way to the front of the group and cleared his throat. "So, uh, I know it's hard to have to do this again—"

"Oh my fucking God, save it!" Akiko groaned. "Are you seriously gonna do another 'This hard but you do it' speech? We get it. You're all touchy-feely and shit. Just let us get on with solving the case so we can move on!"

Reijirou faltered, swallowing thickly. "I… right. I hope my faith in you all is evident by now, so I'll just… leave you to it then." He watched each student file solemnly into the elevator. He got smiles from some, like Shiori and Isao, but glares from other, like Akiko. Finally, once everyone else stood in the elevator, Reijirou entered himself, and watched as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

 _And that's the investigation done guys! I hope this turned out okay; I struggled for ages trying to make sure I had enough information/Truth Bullets that everything would be clear, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming or too obvious in places. Please share your thoughts and speculations about the case in the reviews, and remember if you'd like to join the discord for this story just PM me! Until next time guys._


	16. Chapter 2 (part 5)

Truth Bullets

 _Monokuma File #2: The victim is Kokoa Uzumaki, the Penultimate Chocolatier. The time of death was between 6:00 and 6:15 am. The body's legs have been severely severely burned, and there are minor burns on other various parts of the body. The only other physical wound is a piercing wound caused by an arrow embedded in the body's right side. Additionally, there are signs of smoke inhalation in the lungs._

 _Arrow Head: The head of the arrow in the body's side is not very deep, and there is not much blood around the wound or area around the body._

 _Object in Kokoa's Hand: The body appears to holding something, but the hands completely obscure it._

 _Mr. Saiki's Account: Mr. Saiki woke up at about 6:15 in the morning to a loud bang sound. When he looked out the window and saw smoke, he reasoned the barn was on fire and made an announcement over the intercom calling everyone to the barn._

 _Mounted Bow: A bow mounted onto the edge of the barn's loft, positioned to point towards the barn doors._

 _Wooden Wedge and Rope: A carved wooden wedge found on the edge of the barn's loft. Screwed into the wedge is a small metal loop with a rope tied to it._

 _Metal Loops: A pair of metal loops mounted to both the front and back doors of the barn. Both loops are on the door closer to the loft. The loop on the front door is attached to the wooden wedge. The loop on the back door was hit by the fire._

 _Tools on Barn Floor: Along with the debris from the fire, various small wood carving tools are scattered on the ground nearer to the back door. They appear undamaged by the fire._

 _Broken Crate: Pieces of what appears to be a broken crate on the ground near the edge of the loft. One piece has a metal loop embedded in it, and tied to the loop is a long rope with a burnt end._

 _Rope and Hook: A long rope with a hook tied to the end. They were found in the bushes beside the barn. The end of the rope seems to be soaked with gasoline._

 _Fridge Log Sheet: A log sheet Kokoa kept tapped to one of the fridges in the kitchen noting when she placed each batch of chocolate in to set. The last batch of chocolate is marked having gone in the night before at 5:45 am._

 _Empty Gas Container: An empty gas container found in the nature center._

 _Snake Necklace: A carved snake necklace found near the empty gas container in the nature center. It looks similar to the ones Take made as gifts for members of the Lil' Hotshots._

 _Ikeda's Account: The fire burned quickly and produced a lot of smoke. Because of this and the poor ventilation in the barn, death by smoke inhalation could have occured in under ten minutes._

* * *

During the elevator's long descent, Shiori steeled herself for the trial ahead. Even as images of Kokoa's burnt body kept resurfacing, she cycled through the information she and her friends had found. _I wish I could write all these things down on bits of paper and physically move them around to find connections,_ she thought to herself. _Trying to find which pieces go together in my head is basically impossible…_

Before she thought it was possible they reached the trial grounds. It looked the same as before; cavernous, harshly lit, and starkly empty save for the circle of podiums, Monokuma's giant judge desk, and Mr. Saiki's tiny stool. She gulped when she saw the two towering metal doors on each side. _Behind one was the machine that… That killed Hideyo. Monokuma must have all of the executions set up in there._

Shaking off her dread, she gave Isao, Kashie, and Gorou a smile and a nod before heading to her place. As everyone else filed into place, she saw that like with Haruto's spot, Hideyo and Kokoa's places were now occupied by funeral photos on stands. The 'X' over Hideyo's face looked painted on; the one over Kokoa's was formed from a ladle and knife.

Shiori took a moment to see how everyone seemed to be dealing with having to go to trial for the second time. Isao and Kashie looked a bit nervous, sweating a bit, their mouths in hard lines. But overall, they looked more secure than some of the others. Gorou just glared angrily, but Shiori saw it was a glare simmering with anger at the injustice that had occurred. Rika bounced on the balls of her feet and looked around, anxious to begin. Karen, on the other hand, seemed almost frozen in place. However, in her hands she held her glasses, cleaning them on the edge of her sweater. Kenji was pale and sweaty, and even Remy bit his lip. Seihiko somehow seemed even more agitated than when Shiori had seen him during the investigation. He frowned deeply and gripped the edges of his podium. Homura was glancing back and forth between Seihiko and Take. Take seemed to be the only person who wasn't nervous or agitated, leaning casually on his podium.

Akiko drummed her fingers on her podium and glared at Take. "Why the fuck do you look so smug, asshole?"

"Why not? I have nothing to be scared of." Take smirked and tilted up his chin. "I didn't do anything wrong, and soon we'll find who burned up my hideout. I'm frankly thrilled."

Ikeda, finally coming out of his intense contemplation, said, "My, you are confident. I can't wait to learn what is fueling that confidence."

From his perch Monokuma chuckled. "Upupu! Let's get pumped! I'm just _burning_ with excitement!"

Mr. Saiki gave Monokuma a piercing look from his stool. "Seriously? You're making a fire pun?"

"Isn't our job as authority figures to making embarrassing jokes?"

Running his hands down his face, Mr. Saiki groaned. "You just take whatever excuse you can to make light of this horror show, don't you?"

"Why wouldn't I? Hello, earth to Mr. Saiki, that's _kind of_ my M.O. Where have you _been?_ Jeez, and I thought I hired the best." Monokuma shook his head in feigned disappointment.

Reijirou crossed his arms and looked away, while Monokuma seemed to grin even wider than usual.

"Now, let's get this trial going! A quick reminder of the rules in case you forgot. You'll all debate the details of this case to try to figure out whodunit! After a vote, if the majority of you picked correctly, then the blackened will be punished! But if you choose the wrong person or if there's no majority, then I'll punish everyone _besides_ the blackened, and the culprit will be allowed to leave the island! Also, do keep in mind that refusing to vote is not an option, unless getting executed sounds fun to you. I dunno, maybe one of you lil' bastards is into that sort of thing. I don't judge" He shrugged. "Anyway, time to get this heart-pounding, _barn-burner_ of a trial underway!"

Shiori grimaced at the pun.

"We remember how this goes," Gorou grumbled. "Let us get on with it."

"Agreed," Ikeda chimed in. Pulling out his Monopad, he said, "Let's start discussing the events of—"

Take rolled his eyes. "Boo! We all know what happened. My hideout got burned, Chocolate-Chick got caught in it, this morning we put it out. We find the person who burned down the barn, we find our killer. Easy!"

Akiko laughed. "Oh, you so sure the fire's what killed her? What about the fucking _arrow_ in her side? That you admitted came from a trap _you_ set up? Yeah, you ain't looking so good right now, Snake."

"Wait a minute, what's this about traps?" asked Isao.

"Oh that's right, you didn't get a chance to look in the barn," said Shiori.

Seihiko gave Isao a look. "Why didn't you? It was where we found the body. I feel like that would be important."

"Well, I… look, I didn't think I could handle seeing… the body," Isao stammered. "Plus, it seemed like everyone was going in at once, so I thought I'd check outside first and go in when it was less crowded, but that, uh, didn't end up working out. Guess I should have planned better, or—"

"The point is," Shiori jumped in, hoping to cut off Isao's self deprecation, "Take had a trap set up in the barn, and we're pretty sure that it was how Kokoa got hit by the arrow we found in her side."

Gorou rolled his eyes. "See, this is why have to establish the basics before jumping into this stuff!"

"Doesn't change the fact it's obviously Snake's fault!" Akiko shouted incredulously.

Homura frowned. "It also doesn't mean you're not, like, totally blowing this out of proportion!"

Ikeda's eye twitched. "And you're all jumping to accusations. Wonderful. No subtlety at all…"

 _Must admit, I feel your pain, Ikeda._ Shiori sighed. _Time to set things straight._

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Monokuma File #2 | Mounted Bow | Broken Crate

TAKE: Look, I get you're mad at me…

TAKE: But you're just _jumping to conclusions!_

AKIKO: Like you aren't!

AKIKO: Is there _proof your arrow trap didn't kill her?_ No!

KASHIE: Um… we're kind of getting ahead of ourselves...

ISAO: Right! Like Gorou said, we haven't even gone over what happened.

ISAO: We should establish the _order of events_ …

HOMURA: Why are we even arguing about this? _The Monokuma File will tell us!_

SEIHIKO: You'd think we would be better at this, having done it before…

IKEDA: Some of us were trying to be orderly—

AKIKO: Oh, look at Skull throwing shade!

-Truth Bullet Selected: Monokuma File #2-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Um… Homura? Maybe you should look at the Monokuma File again," Shiori said. "It lists Kokoa's injuries, but it doesn't actually specify what the cause of death was…"

Homura started. "What? Really?" She looked up at Monokuma. "Like, what the heck, man? I thought this thing was supposed to give us all the info on the body and stuff!"

"Not _all_ the info!" Monokuma chided her. "Information that would give too much away, _or_ that can be otherwise obtained via the investigation, may be omitted at my discretion!"

Gorou's eyes widened a bit. "That actually tell us a lot. It means that the cause of death can be determined from what we've found, or that revealing it would give too much away."

"And that's an important 'or,' I'm guessing," Ikeda added.

"So… it's not both?" Kenji asked tentatively.

"I used 'or' for a reason!" said Monokuma. "Not that it couldn't be 'and' in a different case, but in this case it's 'or'!"

Rika held her head. "All this 'or' and 'and' talk is getting a bit confusing…"

"The important thing," Shiori cut in, "Is that we should have enough evidence to figure out what killed Kokoa on our own with what we've found."

Akiko smirked a bit. "Then it should be obvious what killed her! Who could survive an arrow to the side?"

"But there were other factors…" Seihiko pointed out. "Even if the arrow would have killed her left to bleed for long enough, the fire might have gotten to her before she could, well, bleed out."

"...There's also smoke inhalation," Remy added. "It's actually the leading cause of deaths in fires…"

"Okay, fine, there are technically other possibilities," Akiko relented, then she pounded a fist on her podium. "But! Is there any proof what _actually_ killed her? Until I see some, the freaking arrow wound seems most likely!"

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Arrow Head | Rope and Hook | Mr. Saiki's Account

RIKA: Okay, so we just need to go over the evidence…

RIKA: … and find something that tells us what killed Kokoa!

KENJI: What evidence is there though?

KAREN: Perhaps _the wound itself_ can tell us something?

HOMURA: Seihiko and I didn't get a good look at it…

TAKE: Yeah, 'cause _Akiko didn't let us look!_

AKIKO: I was just guarding the body!

REMY: … I suppose _the_ _fire damage_ could tell us something…

REMY: … But I don't know enough about that sort of stuff.

IKEDA: Oh, I thought you had all this _wonderful criminal knowledge_.

REMY: … I've never said that. Just that I watch crime shows sometimes.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Arrow Head-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

"Oh, Karen! We actually do have some evidence on the wound." Shiori pulled up the truth bullet. "It looks like the arrow wound isn't actually very deep, and there wasn't a lot of blood…"

"...Which implies that the blood that Kokoa lost wasn't enough to kill her," Isao finished.

Akiko rolled her eyes. "Okay, yeah, the lack of blood was kinda weird, but can you blame me for getting caught on the most straightforward thing?"

"We can blame you for jumping to conclusions," Gorou muttered.

"Akiko," Ikeda said suddenly. "It's interesting that you allowed me and Mr. Saiki to examine Kokoa's body, but gave others a hard time about it. Why is that?"

"Look, I might not like you Skull," Akiko huffed, "But you're smart enough _not_ to pick a fight with me, so I let you look. Snake and his 'Lil Hotshots' on the other hand? I wouldn't trust them to do my laundry."

Seihiko gave her an incredulous look. "Really? What have Homura and I done to warrant this?"

Akiko shrugged. "You hang with Snake, who I am 99% sure is a freaking murderer even out of the context of this case, and it seems like you listen to him, so, yeah, I feel justified not trusting you."

"Now that ain't fair," Take complained. Seihiko gave him a look which Take either did not see, or ignored, Shiori couldn't tell.

Karen groaned. "Can we stay on task for five minutes?"

"Apparently not," said Gorou, "But whatever, fine. We've eliminated the arrow then. What's that leave? The fire and the smoke?"

Kenji bit his lip. "Does it matter which of those it was? They're both whoever set the fire's fault, so it's not like it'd help determine who killed her…"

"I… think it matters," Kashie said cautiously. "It would… well, tell us about what actually happened?"

"Which is where we ought to have begun, _as I said_." Ikeda gave Take and Akiko a pointed look.

"But, while we're on the subject, we might as well settle the cause of death, right?" Take chided. "That way we have all the basic set up stuff settled, and we can get on with the sequence of events."

Shiori straightened up. "In that case..."

* * *

Select Evidence: Ikeda's Account

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

She turned to Ikeda. "...you mentioned on the way over that you thought smoke inhalation was more likely?"

"Not exactly. Just that given the ventilation in the barn and the signs that the fire burned quickly, death by smoke inhalation could have happened very quickly. And given the small window of time for the time of death given, it makes sense."

"But then, how long would it have taken for Kokoa to die from the burns?" Seihiko wondered.

"A while…" muttered Remy. "And honestly? Smoke inhalation _is_ usually more fatal than burn wounds on their own…"

Gorou turned to Monokuma. "Well, are we right? Was it smoke inhalation?"

"You are… Correct! Ding ding ding!" Monokuma cackled. "As flashy it would have been for her to have died in a literal blaze of glory, it was the smoke that did our poor Miss Chocolatier in."

"Do you… Have to say it like that?" Kashie whimpered.

Homura frowned and looked back to Ikeda. "Wait, like, how are we sure the fire burned quickly?"

"We'll get back to it," Ikeda sighed. "May we go over the events of this morning, please?"

Isao raised an eyebrow. "You seem anxious to get to it. Something you really need to say?"

"I'll tell you if or when it's relevant."

Rika brought one hand to her chin in thought. "Well, for me, I woke up to hearing Mr. Saiki saying we all needed to help put out a fire at the barn over the intercom. I'm not sure what time that was…"

"I made the announcement at about 6:15 am," Mr. Saiki supplied.

Rika gave him a grateful nod. "Right! So I got up, got dressed, and ran over, and when I got there, some other people were already there getting buckets of water, so I started throwing them on the fire."

"Who got there first, besides Mr. Saiki I guess?" asked Shiori. "I know Homura and I were last."

"I think it was me," Gorou replied. "I… I was already awake and dressed, so I didn't need to waste time getting ready. When I got there, Mr. Saiki was trying to use a fire extinguisher, but the flames were already pretty big. I think uh, Akiko, Rika, and all the guys in the other cabin came a bit after that? But I'm not sure, since I was on fire break duty behind the barn with Ikeda."

"So when did _you_ get there, Skull?" Akiko proded. "I didn't even see you the whole time we were fighting the fire!"

Ikeda actually hesitated a moment before saying, "I was camping outside that night, under a tree not too far from there, in the forest behind the girl's cabins. So like Gorou, I did not need to take time to get ready before heading to the barn. And I knew a fire break was needed, so I set to work on that rather than checking in with Mr. Counselor."

"You better be grateful I was too busy delegating everyone else to notice you weren't there," Mr. Saiki piped in, "Or I would have been so distracted wondering where you were the barn would have actually burned down!"

Take snickered. "Did you just admit to forgetting about one of us? Damn, and I thought you were supposed to be all concerned for us and shit."

"Like I said before the debate began, I hire only the best for _my_ killing games," Monokuma chortled, sarcastic venom penetrating his voice.

"I, well, that is—!" Mr. Saiki stammered, face bright red, "Look, I was preoccupied?! With making sure the whole island didn't burn down?! And can you please be quiet?! I thought we weren't supposed to be involved!"

"No need to tease our teacher, either of you!" Isao shook his head and continued, trying to get back on track. "So once we all got there, we fought the fire for a while, then when it was out, Take went to see the inside of the barn, then Mr. Saiki and Shiori followed him, and they found, uh... Kokoa's body."

Ikeda leaned forward. "Did anyone notice anyone acting suspicious while we were putting out the fire?"

"I don't think so…" Kashie said, glancing around. "We were all focused on the barn and our tasks…"

Kenji gave Ikeda a look. "Why would that be important…? We all helped fight the fire, so it's not like we can point to someone who didn't help and say they're the culprit."

"Yes, that is true," Ikeda said with a slight tone of exasperation, "But think about this: Whoever set the fire did so at night, when they were least likely to be caught. Regardless of if that person intended to kill Kokoa, or anyone else, with the fire, how they reacted to everyone putting the fire out could be important."

Homura gasped and pointed a finger. "Well then! You're certainly suspicious because you were outside all night! Maybe you were waiting for Kokoa to come back from the mess hall to trap her in the burning barn!"

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" asked Seihiko. "Kokoa was in the mess hall last night?"

"I'm so confused again!" Rika wailed. "Why does this keep happening?"

"I will explain everything," Homura said, "And then everything will make sense and it will be clear that this was all a nefarious plot by _you_ , Ikeda!"

Shiori looked around at the chaos erupting. _Oh my God, what is even going on? Well, maybe I can at least use the evidence we found to clear up something…_

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Fridge Log Sheet | Empty Gas Container | Snake Necklace

HOMURA: Last night before I left the mess hall…

HOMURA: … I saw Kokoa ask Mr. Saiki if she could _stay the night in the kitchen!_

REMY: Why did she want to do that?

HOMURA: I don't know! But what I do know…

HOMURA: ...is that she never came back to the cabins!

IKEDA: Get to the point, if you're going to accuse me.

HOMURA: See, Kokoa came out of the mess hall in the _middle of the night_ …

HOMURA: ...then Ikeda lured her to the barn, trapped her inside, then burned the place down!

KAREN: That seems very complicated. Why go to that trouble?

HOMURA: Ask him! _I don't know how killers think!_

IKEDA: This fixation you have on me is getting tiresome.

AKIKO: Man, who knew Miss Sure Shot could get so riled up!

-Truth Bullet Selected: Fridge Log Sheet-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Wait, Homura, I don't think Kokoa left in the middle of the night. We found this log sheet on the fridge in the kitchen..." Shiori pulled up the truth bullet. "Yeah! And the final entry was from last night at 5:45 am! Or morning. You get me."

Homura scrunched up her face. "Log sheet?"

Gorou nodded and said, "Yeah. Kokoa keeps, er… _kept_ a log of when she put each batch of her chocolates in the freezer, so that means she was still in the kitchen until at least 5:45."

"And since the time of death was between 6:00 and 6:15, and Mr. Saiki saw the fire right at 6:15, Kokoa must have gone to the barn very soon after leaving the mess hall," Isao concluded.

"This supports the idea that the fire burned quickly," said Remy. "Give the state of the barn when we put the fire out… the fire probably started around then too."

"Aw, did you learn that from your crime shows too, Mr. _SVU_?" Akiko sneered sarcastically.

Remy was unfazed. "No. I learned that in a fire safety video."

Shiori noted that, instead of rolling her eyes, Akiko actually seemed a bit impressed at his tenacity.

"Okay, so I was wrong about when Kokoa left," Homura pouted, "But Ikeda is still suspicious!"

"Honestly, we haven't established enough of what's happened to give anyone an alibi," said Shiori. "So I _really_ think we need to figure out more of what happened before we start accusing people any more, okay?"

Mr. Saiki gave a small cheer from his stool. "Here here!"

"It's important to establish the events of the crime, so everyone at home knows what the hell happened!" added Monokuma. "You see, even if they're smart enough to tune in, they're usually not smart enough to follow what's going on!" Another cackle.

"This isn't a freaking reality show, you stupid freaky bear!" Akiko shouted. She then slumped onto her podium. "Fuck, why can't we have food breaks? I'm starving."

"Shoot, I should have grabbed something from the kitchen to bring…" Mr. Saiki murmured.

"Too bad! No snack breaks during the class trial!" Monokuma bellowed.

 _Akiko has been so snappish,_ Shiori thought _. I mean, I'm a bit hungry too, since we didn't eat breakfast, but seriously? And she's shifting moods so fast. Does that mean…? No, I literally just said it's too soon for that!_

Shiori snapped back to the conversation when Rika raised her hand and asked, "Um, so, I didn't go in the barn, because I, um… wasn't sure how I'd handle it, so uh, was there any evidence about how Kokoa got hit by the arrow? Someone mentioned a trap earlier, but…"

"Maybe Take will _finally_ tell us how the heck his trap worked," Gorou said pointedly.

Take seemed to ponder that for a second before he replied, "Nope! I think our dear little Detective Shiori can explain that just fine! If she thinks her little theory from before is correct."

Stiffening, Shiori said, "I mean, I can?" She collected herself. "But only if you promise to confirm what you actually did after, whether I'm right or not."

"Fine," Take sighed, but continued smiling.

Suddenly, everyone was looking at her. She swallowed. _You can do this._

* * *

EVIDENCE ENDEAVOURS

PART 1: PICK THE PIECES

SHIORI: So there are three parts to the trap. The first part is...

Truth Bullets: Mounted Bow | Rope and Hook | Wedge and Rope | Tools on Barn Floor

[ _Mounted Bow_ ]

SHIORI: … a bow mounted to the edge of the barn loft. It points down toward the door. The second part is…

Truth Bullets: Mounted Bow | Wedge and Rope | Rope and Hook | Tools on Barn Floor

[ _Wedge and Rope_ ]

SHIORI: … a wooden wedge attached to the barn door by some rope. The wedge is pretty small, so it can fit into the gaps between the loft floor boards.

PART 2: PUT IT TOGETHER!

SHIORI: So the way I think it works is that the wedge is put into one of the gaps in the floor, then the string of the bow goes over it so it's held back. Then the arrow is set in the bow so it won't fall and points down. Then when the door is opened, the wedge is pulled out, releasing the bow string and firing the arrow.

SHIORI: This is how it fits together!

* * *

Take chuckled. "Man, you got it in one! You can thank my good buddies for helping me set it up."

"I honestly didn't think it would work," said Seihiko. "I was sure the arrow would just end up flopping out. Especially if it was left set all night…"

Take's smiled immediately disappeared and he gave Seihiko a steely look.

Seihiko stiffed, then coughed. "But uh, it's not like we could have known the trap could actually hit someone, with how we positioned it or how fast the arrow would go; it was just meant to scare people away. And the arrow didn't actually kill Kokoa, not that that helps, and… wow, I'm rambling, never mind."

 _Okay, that was a weird exchange there,_ thought Shiori. _Better keep an eye on those two…_

Gorou sighed. "I'm not gonna get into why using an actual arrow for a supposedly non lethal trap was a stupid idea, I guess that means Kokoa just, tripped the arrow trap going into the barn? Nothing to do with the killer."

"Unless they lured her there!" Homura pointed out.

Karen adjusted her glasses, frowning. "But why lure her only to leave a fire to… insulate her instead of killing her with a more… conventional weapon?"

Shiori thought for a second before suggesting, "Immolate?"

"Yes, quite right," said Karen gratefully. "Unless the use of fire as the weapon was important to the killer for whatever reason… I believe it would be, well, reasonable to assume Kokoa was not a target."

"Yeah," Kenji agreed. "And... the killer might not have intended to kill anyone. Kokoa might have just found the barn while it was burning, and got hit by the arrow."

Mr. Saiki glanced up at Monokuma. "If it _did_ turn out to be an accident—?"

"Ah ah!" Monokuma waggled his paw disapprovingly. "I know where you're going with this. Sorry, but no dice! A killer is a killer, intentional or not!"

"Wait a minute," said Kashie. "I just thought of something. Why didn't Kokoa go to find help? I know she must have been in pain from the arrow, but both the cabins and Mr. Saiki's office aren't that far of a walk."

Everyone seemed to freeze for a second. Then Shiori snapped her fingers as she remembered. "Guys! When we investigated the barn, the front door to the barn was locked!"

"Wait, really?" asked Isao. "I didn't know the barn doors locked…" He gave Take a glance.

Take shrugged. "Only the front ones, and you can only lock from inside. One locked door ain't much security. Besides, I wanted to know if someone tried to get into my hideout, and Teach said I wasn't allowed to actually _stop_ people from coming in the barn. My security was just meant to… discourage people from snooping."

Shiori saw Mr. Saiki sink into his stool and turn his face away out of the corner of her eye.

"How would the door get locked though?" asked Remy. "It had to have been open for Kokoa to have gotten in…"

"Well, there is one obvious answer," said Ikeda. He looked over at Shiori and gave her a nod that might have been encouraging coming from someone else, but from Ikeda just seemed...smug.

 _He is right; the clearest answer is..._

* * *

THINKING TIME

 _How did the barn door get locked?_

A: Kokoa locked it

B: It locked itself during the fire

 _[C: The culprit locked it]_

SHIORI: This is the answer!

* * *

"It was the culprit." Shiori swallowed before continuing. "They locked the door so Kokoa couldn't leave the barn."

"So much for this being an accident…" said Isao, folding his arms around himself.

Rika seemed perplexed. "Huh! I thought the culprit set the fire from the outside! Why start from inside? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Yeah!" Homura agreed. "You'd have to like, set the fire and then escape while everything was burning!"

"Probably to be dramatic..." Kenji muttered.

Gorou snickered dryly. "God, why does that always have to be a possibility?"

"Now now, I applaud drama!" crowed Monokuma. "And the drama of the culprit being interrupted, only to trap their victim and walk away as barn and victim burn? Absolutely fucking superb! Or should I say, _killer?_ Upupu!"

"Shut the fuck up!" shouted Akiko and Gorou at the same time. The two of them stared at each other, shocked at their syncing, before quickly shaking it off.

"Well, that covers the front door, but what about the back door?" asked Isao. "Do we have evidence for why Kokoa couldn't have escaped that way? Was that door locked too?"

"No way to tell," said Homura. "That door was like, super burned up."

Ikeda pursed his lips. "Even if Kokoa was in extreme pain, she could have made her way to that door. She must not have even tried, considering where we found the body…"

"What stopped her?" Rika wondered.

"Let's go over the evidence we found in the barn," Shiori suggested. "Maybe then something will stick out." Pun definitely not intended. She winced, only catching it after she said it. No taking back an accidental pun related to the murder now...

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Tools on Barn Floor | Metal Loops | Ikeda's Account

GOROU: Okay, evidence in the barn…

AKIKO: Shouldn't _everyone already know_ this stuff?

KASHIE: Um, not everyone investigated the barn though…

TAKE: Wow, I would've thought ya'll'd've taken this more seriously!

KENJI: ...did you really just say 'ya'll'd've'?

REMY: ...I don't even say that…

SEIHIKO: Let's focus, please? Beside the body…

SEIHIKO: ...there was a bunch of debris, like bits of wood and equipment from the woodworking area.

REMY: _It all got scattered as things burned…_

AKIKO: Can't forget Snake's arrow trap. Which is still a major cause of this shit, even if it didn't kill Cocoa!

TAKE: Man, you aren't gonna let that go are you?

AKIKO: _My best friend got shot for your 'security,' bastard!_ 'Course I'm fucking pissed!

-Truth Bullet Selected: Tools on Barn Floor-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Hold on Remy," said Shiori, "I think there's more to the debris and how it got there. The tools from the woodworking station? It seems like only the small ones ended up scattered on the floor. And they look fine! As if the fire didn't even really touch them."

Remy looked back through the evidence, then gave Shiori a nod. "I… didn't notice that."

"What does that mean, though?" asked Rika.

"That weren't scattered by the fire!" answered Shiori. "If they had been with all the other equipment, they'd be burned."

Take raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile. "My my, would you look at that! How else could the tools have gotten there, then?"

"And who here could possibly know that, I wonder?" Ikeda gave him an equally pointed look. "If only someone would tell us…"

"Oh my god, quit making flirty eyes at each other and asking leading questions!" Akiko groaned. "Why can neither of you asses be direct?"

Ikeda shrugged. "When in Rome. I had hoped our Bandit would take some pride in his trap and explain it to us."

"Wait…" said Kashie, puzzled. "You think the tools on the floor… have to do with another trap?"

"It would make sense to put a trap on both doors, rather than just one," Isao pointed out.

Gorou sighed. "Guess I was hoping the absurdity of the whole 'trap' thing ended with the bow and arrow…"

"This theory is… all well and good, but what sort of… machi— er, what manner of subterrain— no, that's… hmm." Karen trailed off, coughed, then began again. "What kind of trap could they be part of?"

Shiori thought for a moment, then said, "Well, we found something else in the barn that might have to do with it…"

* * *

Select Evidence: Broken Pieces of Crate

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

"There were these broken pieces of wood everywhere; they looked like parts of a crate," she explained, catching the evidence appearing on the mounted T.V. in the corner of her eye. "Maybe the tools were inside it, and then during the fire everything broke and it all ended up on the floor."

"So..." said Isao, trying to wrap his head around this, "Did the trap go off because the culprit used the back door to escape, or did the fire do something to set it off?"

"...The first one," said Kenji. "The back door is the only way the culprit could have gotten out of the barn, since they locked the front door."

Homura perked up. "Wait, does that mean we've worked out everything that happened in the barn? Woo hoo!"

Frowning, Shiori tried to speak up. "Um, Homura? There's actually a bit more I need to—" But before she could finish, everyone began speaking again. _Oh gosh, everyone's talking at once. How am I gonna get us back on track?_

* * *

MASS PANIC DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Tools on Barn Floor | Metal Loops | Mr. Saiki's Account | Wedge and Rope

HOMURA: We've finally got it all settled!

RIKA: Yay! We did it!

TAKE: So now that we've got what happened straight…

KAREN: Kokoa arrived at the barn…

GOROU: I honestly can't believe it.

TAKE: … _we can finally start accusin' people, right?_

KAREN: … _while the culprit set the barn on fire._

RIKA: I mean, what's the other option?

AKIKO: Thank fucking God! You're going down, Snake.

HOMURA: But Kokoa got hit by the arrow: Pow!

RIKA: Nothing shows the _fire necessarily_ _set off the trap._

TAKE: Is that so? Well, bring it on then.

SEIHIKO: Then the culprit locked the door and made their escape.

ISAO: It still seems too… simple?

KENJI: Your rivalry is getting ridiculous…

Truth Bullet Selected: Metal Loops

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

"Wait wait, everyone stop for a second! Rika, there actually is something that points to the setting off the trap. Look at the metal loop on the back door." Shiori pointed up the monitor as she spoke. "See, it's all burned!"

Rika rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Oops, guess I didn't look close enough at that bit of evidence."

Kashie's eyes widened. "So the rope burned, which caused the crate to fall and break?"

"I can answer that question!" Take proclaimed. "See, the way the trap works, the rope goes around one of the support beams for the loft, and when the door opens the crate falls a bit and tools inside make a bunch of noise. The crate isn't meant to fall all the way. And if the door had been open when it fell, the crate wouldn't have broken up so much, 'cause the drop would've been smaller. Ergo, the door was closed when the rope burned."

"My, you've chosen to explain one of these nonsense traps; it's a miracle," Ikeda deadpanned.

"That makes sense," Shiori remarked. "So Kokoa was in the barn. We've established that. And we know how Kokoa got in, but what about the culprit?"

Perking up, Isao added, "You know, you're right, Shiori." He smiled.

In response to the praise, Shiori blushed. A second after, she chastised herself: _Now is not the time to be flustered, Shiori! Get yourself together!_ She quickly shook off her embarrassment.

"That reminds me," Isao went on, "We hadn't talked about how the culprit got _in_ the barn, either. And we know it couldn't have been the front door, because Kokoa was the one hit by the trap, not the culprit. And if it wasn't the back door either then—"

"Hold up there, pretty boy," said Take. "Sure, we know the trap on the back door got set off by the fire, but that doesn't actually mean the culprit couldn't have used it to get in _and_ out. Just that if they did, they closed the door behind them when they left."

"And that does line up with what we established earlier," Seihiko added. "If the culprit wanted to trap Kokoa by locking the front door, of course they'd close the back door too."

Shiori faltered a bit. "I… I hadn't thought of that," she admitted. _Oops._

"It's fine," Gorou chimed in for the first time in a while. "You don't have to think of everything, Shiori."

She threw a "thanks" and a gentle smile Gorou's way as the others continued their discussion.

"Well, what about the rope?" asked Isao. "If the culprit had been open and closing the door so much, wouldn't the rope have been more damaged?"

Shiori perked up. "Yeah! And, and what all the noise that would have made? Wouldn't someone have heard that?"

" _Ya'll need to shut up._ " Shaking his head, Take chuckled. "Look, I think we're all overlooking the biggest problem here. We know the culprit didn't use the front door, right? So if you're saying they somehow couldn't use the back door, how the hell did the culprit get in?"

* * *

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

START!

Truth Blades: Mr. Saiki's Account, Fridge Log Sheet, Rope and Hook

TAKE: We know the culprit went in the barn…

SLASH!

TAKE: ...because the door Kokoa went through was locked when we found it.

SLASH!

TAKE: If they couldn't set the fire outside, or use the front door…

SLASH!

TAKE: They had to have gone out through the back.

SLASH!

TAKE: There's no other way out of the barn!

ADVANCE!

SHIORI: But what about the window in the loft?

SHIORI: The culprit could have climbed out through there!

TAKE: Hate to break it to you…

SLASH!

TAKE: ...But that's a pretty nasty drop.

SLASH!

TAKE: _Without some kind of tool…_

SLASH!

TAKE: … You'd seriously hurt yourself jumping down that far.

SLASH!

TAKE: And I didn't see anyone limping today.

SLASH!

TAKE: So the back door is literally the only option.

Truth Blade: Rope and Hook

SHIORI: I'll cut through your words!

BREAK!

* * *

Shiori slammed her hands down on her podium. "Except we did find a tool! Isao and Kashie found this!" A photo of the hook and rope appeared on the mounted T.V. "See, it's basically a simple grappling hook! Get the hook on the window ledge, then you can climb up the rope into the barn through the window!"

"It was right in the bushes outside the barn, hidden from view unless you were actively looking for something," said Isao.

Kashie peaked out of her hood a bit. "And they were on the side of the barn with the window."

"There is absolutely no reason for this to even _exist_ if the culprit used the back door!" Shiori proclaimed.

Take open and closed his mouth several times in shock.

Seihiko sighed. "Well, look at that."

"Geez, that hook is crazy!" Homura exclaimed. "Where'd the culprit even get that thing?"

"... It's from the nature center," said Kenji. "I've seen a bunch of them. I think they're meant for rock climbing?"

Gorou scoffed. "Why the heck would we need those? There aren't any mountains on this island."

Monokuma chuckled and rubbed his paws together. "It is my duty as head of the camp to provide you with all of the best materials and equipment to make this the best possible camp experience! Also, how could I pass up providing such a unique weapon?!"

"Oh God…" murmured Rika, looking pale.

Karen pursed her lips. "However, this just gives us another problem. Why did the culprit decide to go to all this trouble to get in through the window?"

"... That's true. It would be simpler to just… go through the front door," Kenji added.

"But… we know the culprit didn't do that," said Kashie, "Because if they had, wouldn't they have gotten hit by the arrow instead?"

Akiko slowly began laughing, growing from snickers to full on hysterics. "Fuck, isn't it obvious? There's one reason, and it basically confirms it was _you,_ Snake!"

 _Why would the culprit go through the window?_ Shiori thought. _Wait, could it be that…?_

* * *

THINKING TIME

 _Why did the culprit use the grappling hook to enter the barn through the window?_

[A _: The culprit wanted to avoid the traps_ ]

B: The culprit liked rock climbing

C: The culprit wanted to be dramatic

SHIORI: This is the answer!

* * *

"The culprit… knew about the traps, and wanted to avoid them," Shiori said, feeling dread creep up her back.

"Exactly!" cackled Akiko. "And who even _knew_ there were traps in the barn before we started investigating?"

Mr. Saiki perked up. "I knew, sort of. I heard Take setting things up the day we got the motive, but he just said he was setting up 'security.' But I didn't know exactly what it was he was setting up. I might have mentioned it? I don't exactly remember; I was kind of sleep deprived the past few days—"

"Quiet!" shouted Monokuma. "This is a murder trial, Counselor Saiki, not sad twenty-something Life Story Hour!'"

Even though Mr. SAiki was behind her, she could feel something inside the counselor snap. "My entire _job_ is listening to everyone's Life Story Hours _,_ you malignant Build-A-Bear reject! Give me a goddamn break, will ya?! Kids are _dying_ here! Of course I can't sleep; neither can they! Show some sympathy, for fuck's sake!" Reijirou snarled.

This was the first time Shiori had really seen him angry. Not angry in the same way he'd been when he'd had to break up the fights; no, this anger was beyond the confines of his job as a counselor. This was righteous anger: The kind of anger that was dangerous to Monokuma.

The room went silent for a moment as peals of Monokuma's horrid laughter filled the air, growing into a cacophonous symphony in the echoes of the trial room. "...Oh ho ho, it seems like softie Saiki has some bite! I wouldn't have thought." Monokuma , while Reijirou continued to fume, but managed to collect himself after a few moments as Monokuma remarked, seemingly impressed, "I really did hire the best man for the job. So invested in the well being of his charges!"

Shiori's eyes widened. It had always occurred to her that counselors were _people,_ but it was surreal to see Mr. Saiki openly express emotion. _If I wasn't already pretty sure Mr. Saiki cared about us, that would have confirmed it._

"Anyone else?" asked Akiko, interrupting Shiori's mental digression.

Take took a deep breath, then sighed. "Sorry, Lil' Hotshots. Looks like I shouldn't have clued you in."

Seihiko groaned. "Why did you say that…?"

"Oh come on Akiko!" said Homura, exasperated. "Yes, Seihiko and I knew the traps were there before, but like, _none_ of us have a reason to do this!"

Ikeda glanced between the Lil' Hotshots and Akiko. "Interesting assertions."

Shiori jumped when he suddenly entered the conversation again. _Geez, he'd been quiet for so long, I'd almost forgotten he was here!_

Ikeda continued, seemingly oblivious to how he'd startled her. "Motive is something we haven't really discussed up until this point. What reason could someone have had to trap Kokoa in the barn, where they _surely_ knew she would die eventually? Well, Akiko, Take? Do either of you have any ideas?"

"No clue," said Take, shrugging. "I have nothing against Chocolate Chick."

"Oh, sure! Like you weren't angry when Mr. Saiki came and broke up our fight after Coco snitched on us? However!" Akiko swerved to glare at Ikeda. "Why the fuck did you ask _me_ like that? You think I could've done it? In case you forgot, Coco was basically my best friend in this hell hole!"

"Your best friend who you just called a 'snitch,'" Ikeda countered. "I wonder how that would have felt, thinking the person you've been closest to in a stressful situation had turned on you. No one would blame you if you had snapped."

"The fuck did you say?!" Akiko looked ready to lunge over her podium and punch Ikeda right then.

"Guys, please calm down!" said Isao, his voice cracking slightly.

 _So we're back where we started,_ thought Shiori as the sounds of arguments began to form a cacophony around her. _Akiko is accusing Take; he's trying to refute her. But now we know more about what happened, and it looks like it could be him, or even Homura or Seihiko, but why has Akiko been so adamant? And why is Ikeda questioning Akiko now? We have to figure this out… but what next? How do we solve this?_ She straightened herself up. _If we don't solve the case, we all die! So we have to find out, for our sakes, and for the sake of Kokoa's memory!_


	17. Chapter 2 (part 6)

_CW: Mentions of drugs/drug use, graphic violence_

* * *

 _Truth Bullets_

 _Monokuma File #2: The victim is Kokoa Uzumaki, the Penultimate Chocolatier. The time of death was between 6:00 and 6:15 am. The body's legs have been severely severely burned, and there are minor burns on other various parts of the body. The only other physical wound is a piercing wound caused by an arrow embedded in the body's right side. Additionally, there are signs of smoke inhalation in the lungs._

 _Arrow Head: The head of the arrow in the body's side is not very deep, and there is not much blood around the wound or area around the body._

 _Object in Kokoa's Hand: The body appears to holding onto something, but the hands completely obscure it._

 _Mr. Saiki's Account: Mr. Saiki woke up at about 6:15 in the morning to a loud bang sound. When he looked out the window and saw smoke, he reasoned the barn was on fire and made an announcement over the intercom calling everyone to the barn._

 _Mounted Bow: A bow mounted onto the edge of the barn's loft, positioned to point towards the barn doors._

 _Wooden Wedge and Rope: A carved wooden wedge found on the edge of the barn's loft. Screwed into the wedge is a small metal loop with a rope tied to it._

 _Metal Loops: A pair of metal loops mounted to both the front and back doors of the barn. Both loops are on the door closer to the loft. The loop on the front door is attached to the wooden wedge. The loop on the back door was hit by the fire._

 _Tools on Barn Floor: Along with the debris from the fire, various small wood carving tools are scattered on the ground nearer to the back door. They appear undamaged by the fire._

 _Broken Crate: Pieces of what appears to be a broken crate on the ground near the edge of the loft. One piece has a metal loop embedded in it, and tied to the loop is a long rope with a burnt end._

 _Rope and Hook: A long rope with a hook tied to the end. They were found in the bushes beside the barn. The end of the rope seems to be soaked with gasoline._

 _Fridge Log Sheet: A log sheet Kokoa kept tapped to one of the fridges in the kitchen noting when she placed each batch of chocolate in to set. The last batch of chocolate is marked having gone in the night before, at 5:45 am._

 _Empty Gas Container: An empty gas container found in the nature center._

 _Snake Necklace: A carved snake necklace found near the empty gas container in the nature center. It looks similar to the ones Take made as gifts for members of the Lil' Hotshots._

 _Ikeda's Account: The fire burned quickly and produced a lot of smoke. Because of this and the poor ventilation in the barn, death by smoke inhalation could have occured in under ten minutes._

* * *

The courtroom had descended into chaos. Akiko and Take were engaged in a giant screaming match, with Ikeda adding sly comments on occasion. Homura was trying to defend Take, Seihiko, and herself from being accused, while Kenji rolled his eyes at her attempts. Rika would sometimes to try to add something, but could hardly seem to find the words for her own thoughts. Kashie, Isao, and Remy seemed to watch on in a mix of horror and puzzlement. For her part, Shiori could hardly even take in the words fluttering around her.

Just as Shiori was starting to pull herself together, all of a sudden, Karen shouted, "Everyone, be quiet! This is not how we figure out anything!"

"She's right," agreed Gorou. "Unsubstantiated shouting and circular arguments aren't gonna get us any closer to figuring this out."

"... Do you have a direction in mind for where we should… well, steer our efforts?" asked Remy.

"I have something I want to clarify," said Seihiko. "Do we have enough evidence now to figure out the exact series of events that happened in the barn? Who came when, when the crate trap when off, that kind of stuff?"

Shiori sighed in relief. _Finally, we have direction again._ "Well, the culprit came first, through the barn window…"

"Then Kokoa entered the barn next," Gorou continued. "She must have noticed something was up."

"That was… sometime after 5:45, but before 6:15? Am I getting the times right?" asked Kashie.

Rika bit her lip in puzzlement. "Wait, had the fire started by then?"

"Most likely," answered Ikeda. "It would have had to have been burning for a short while to have built up enough smoke to kill Kokoa in such a short period, but not too far along either, given it's likely rate of growth."

"Hey," said Homura, suspicious again, "Didn't you say you were gonna, like, explain why you thought the fire burned fast?"

"And I will when it's necessary. We're focusing on the sequence of events."

"Anyway!" Shiori interrupted, trying to stay on track. "Kokoa got hit by the arrow trap when she came in. Then the culprit… locked the door behind Kokoa, and escaped out of the barn through the window again."

Seihiko leaned forward. "So, when _exactly_ did the trap go off?"

 _Why is he so insistent?_ Wondered Shiori. Still, thinking back, she said, "I think… no, I bet it was at 6:15! Because that lines up with…"

* * *

Select Evidence: Mr. Saiki's Account

SHIORI: This is it!

* * *

"... when Mr. Saiki got woken up!" Shiori turned to Mr. Saiki behind her, who thankfully seemed to have calmed down from his outburst from before. "Didn't you say you woke up because you heard a loud 'bang' noise?"

Mr. Saiki hesitated a moment, then gulped. "I did. I mean, it sounded far off enough that I knew it wasn't nearby, but it was still sort of a bang. Or, well, crash…"

Gorou gave a small smile. "That must have been the crate falling. There we go; nice tidy timeline."

" _Now_ can we get you explain yourself?!" said Homura, pointing to Ikeda.

 _I'd like an explaination too,_ Shiori thought, _But Homura's fixation on Ikeda is getting… distracting…_

Rika raised her hand high in the air. "Oh, oh, oh! Pick me! I actually think I know the reason why the barn burned fast!"

Ikeda raised an eyebrow. "My, my."

"Can't say I expected that…" murmured Kenji. "As long as you have… _actual_ evidence."

Rika pouted. "I do! I have real, actual evidence that is super important!"

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Empty Gas Container | Object in Kokoa's Hand | Hook and Rope

RIKA: I definitely know why the barn burned quickly!

SEIHIKO: Wow. I didn't think this would get brought up again.

HOMURA: I mean, _Ikeda is still suspicious_ to me…

HOMURA: But yeah, let's hear it Rika!

RIKA: Okay so, when we were investigating…

RIKA: … I decided to find anything the culprit could have used to start the fire!

SEIHIKO: Why? _There are so many lighters and matches_ in different places…

SEIHIKO: … None of that could narrow it down enough to be helpful.

RIKA: But we did find something! _Gasoline, in the nature center!_

RIKA: And I just remembered, when we would use fire in my arena fights…

RIKA: … Everything burned super fast! So, I bet it's the same here!

REMY: Your fights seem really dangerous.

KENJI: Never thought pyrotechnic knowledge would be useful in a trial…

-Truth Bullet Selected: Empty Gasoline Container-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

"Guys, Rika is right! The culprit used gasoline to make the barn burn super quickly! Thanks, Rika," Shiori gave Rika a grateful smile. She turned back to the rest of her campmates. "I mean, the container was empty, and no one else would have had any reason to use it, right?"

Take shrugged. "I don't know; maybe our resident green-thumb decided to whip out the weed-whacker."

"... Why would I do that?" Kenji said, rolling his eyes. "Even when I was making space for my plot, I just… cleared a grassy area with a hoe. No need for any heavy machinery."

Isao glanced over to Ikeda. "I guess you were right, but how did you know? We never saw you at the nature center…"

"Simple observation," Ikeda replied. "While the main wall of the barn was the most heavily burned, I could still make out some pouring marks from where the culprit doused the walls. Plus, I recognized some of the residue that tends to be left behind at fires aided with accelerants."

"Hold up," said Homura. "Earlier, we said the culprit climbed into the barn on a rope through the window, right? So how did they get the gas container into the barn then? You can't climb a rope one handed."

Rika perked up. "Technically, it's possible, but it's really hard, and you'd need tons of upper body strength." Karen nodded in agreement.

"Oh no…" Kashie pulled her hood a bit. "It looks like we're stuck…" She pulled it down a bit more, to where her face began to be obscured by it. "The evidence… it doesn't fit right…"

Isao cleared his throat. "Well… I think there is another way the culprit could have gotten the container up. Right, Shiori? Remember when we first found the hook and rope."

Shiori took a breath to clear her head. _When we found the rope, I picked it up and then… Oh! That's it!_

* * *

THINKING TIME

 _How did the culprit get the gasoline container into the barn?_

A: They threw it in through the window

 _[B: They pulled it up with the rope]_

C: They carried it up the rope

SHIORI: This is it!

BREAK!

* * *

"What if they used the rope to pull the container up after them?" Shiori suggested. "The rope did have some gasoline on it, right guys?

Kashie peaked back out from her hood. "That's right… I'd forgotten."

Shiori continued. "So the rope could have gotten wet from the container spilling on it a bit as it was pulled up."

Homura looked at Shiori with wide eyes. "Holy crap, I never would have thought of that! How are you so freaking smart? Are you sure your real talent isn't mystery solving?"

Shiori rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, smiling bashfully. "It's not like that…"

"But you are kind of a natural," said Isao, giving Shiori a little nudge.

Shiori couldn't help blushing. _Dangit, Shiori! Now is not the time to get flustered! You're in the middle of a trial! Keep it together!_

Her thoughts were cut off by another voice: "Fine, fine, we know the culprit used gas and how they got it in the barn," grumbled Akiko. "But how does any of this help us figure out who killed Coco? Even though it's already basically guaranteed to be Take, or one of his cronies."

"God, we're not cronies!" Seihiko protested.

Karen adjusted her glasses. "Well, was there any evidence in the nature center that pointed to someone in particular? We could use that."

 _There_ was _something suspicious in the nature center,_ thought Shiori, _But honestly, it all seems a little…_

* * *

NON STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Mr. Saiki's Account | Obejct in Kokoa's Hand | Snake Necklace

TAKE: Alright, whoever went to the nature center? Start talking.

HOMURA: Yeah! Not everyone went.

ISAO: Our group went; that was _me, Shiori, Kashie, Gorou, and Rika._

ISAO: Oh! And Mr. Saiki.

REMY: Kenji and I went there first.

REMY: … _there are a lot of bags of dirt_.

IKEDA: We know. We mean anything suspicious.

KENJI: … I didn't really notice anything, besides the gasoline.

KENJI: When I saw the fire, I remembered it, so…

GOROU: Didn't we find something weird by the gas container?

KASHIE: … _a necklace_.

KAREN: Do any of us wear jewelry?

IKEDA: I can think of a few people…

IKEDA: And it makes things much more interesting.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Snake Necklace-

SHIORI: I agree with that!

BREAK!

* * *

"Kashie, you're right. And it wasn't just any necklace…" Shiori paused, unsure if she should continue.

"Oh! It was a snake, right?" Rika pipped up.

Akiko was practically jumping up and down at her podium. "See! See! I fucking knew it!"

Take looked up in exasperation. "Well, fuck me."

"Hey…" Homura looked a bit hurt. "We're not looking very good either…"

Remy frowned. "You mean… it was one of those pendants Take made for the people in his club?"

Isao nodded. "Uh-huh. It was right next to the gas container."

"Hmm… By all appearances, we have what we might call 'decisive evidence,'" said Ikeda lightly. "It all fits so perfectly, really."

Before she realized what she was doing, Shiori shouted, "Wait! Something's wrong about this!"

"What do you mean, Shiori?" asked Gorou. "You think it's suspicious?"

"Well, yeah!" She replied, turning to Gorou. "Why would it even _be_ there? It's not something that would be easy to leave behind by accident…"

"Could the latch have come undone somehow?" suggested Karen.

Take shook his head. "Nope; these fellas use knots and glue. No fasteners or any of that crap." To prove his point, he held up his own necklace, and sure enough, it was held together with knots. Nothing to come undone.

Kashie's face scrunched up in thought. "So what's the alternative?"

Shiori gasped as she realized. _There's a clear reason, and it makes so much sense…_

* * *

THINKING TIME

 _Why was the necklace by the gas container?_

A: The culprit left it by accident

B: Someone else left it by accident

 _[C: The culprit left it as a decoy]_

SHIORI: This is it!

BREAK!

* * *

"The culprit left it as a red herring!" Shiori exclaimed. "To frame Take or Seihiko or Homura!"

"It _is_ a really incriminating thing to leave behind…" murmured Remy. "Plus, those three are the ones who know the barn best, so…"

Rika hummed a bit in thought. "Who would wanna frame one of them, though?"

Take sighed, then he shook his head. "Man, I really didn't want to have to bring this up…"

Gorou frowned. "Bring what up?"

"Ah, are you finally going to reveal what you lot have been hiding?" asked Ikeda. "Don't think I haven't seen the glances you've been giving your 'Lil' Hotshots,' especially our yo-yo pro."

Seihiko stiffened immediately. He opened his mouth to retort, but Take cut him off with a cold glare.

"Sorry 'Buddy,' but the jig is up." Turning to the group, Take flatly announced, "Seihiko left our cabin early this morning, before Teach's announcement. He's been trying to weasel his way out of my group for the past two days, and I know he thinks I'm an asshole. He could have burned the barn as revenge, trapped Kokoa to keep her from telling, and planted the necklace to try to frame me."

Homura's mouth dropped open, looking over at Seihiko. "No way…"

Shiori wasn't sure how to process this new information. _I noticed Seihiko acting weird this whole trial, but… Is it really him?_

Gorou gave Seihiko a look. "Well? Did you leave your cabin in the morning?"

Seihiko swallowed. "I… I just… I couldn't sleep, so I went to get some air. I swear, that was all it was!"

Akiko raised an eyebrow. "Huh, like _that's_ a real excuse. Gotta say though, good choice framing Snake. He's a bastard."

"No!" Homura shouted, grounding herself. "Seihiko wouldn't do something like that! Even if he's mad at Take, he wouldn't… He wouldn't have killed Kokoa!" With that, she turned to Take, rage building in her voice. "And you! How the heck could you try to pin this on him!? He's your friend!"

Take put up his hands, trying to calm her. "Look, I'm just telling it like it is. Right, Miss Sleuth?" That last bit he aimed at Shiori. "After all, sometimes it turns out the people you thought were your friends… turn out to be something else altogether, right?"

Shiori stiffened. _Hideyo… I still don't really know how to feel about her… but this… This feels different._

"Don't go comparing yourself to Shiori!" Shiori glanced over her shoulder to Isao, who had slammed his hands down on his podium. "Shiori… She only accused Hideyo when she had no choice. At every step she looked for alternatives. She was just trying to find out what happened, so we didn't all die! But you, you're just… Throwing Seihiko under the bus!"

"I do agree that this all feels… in bad taste," said Karen, "But… if what Take said about Seihiko being angry with him is true, it… he has a motive. It would make some sense."

Rika chimed in with, "I don't think it was Seihiko! He's super nice, and he… He's really honest! Remember in the motive game? He didn't lie! So why would he lie now?"

"Because it's life or death now," replied Kenji, voice quiet but hard. "If we vote for him and he's the culprit, he dies."

"Seihiko, if you really aren't the culprit, you gotta give us something that proves it," said Gorou, voice still cold. "We need solid evidence. Like, do you still have your necklace on you? That's show you didn't leave it behind."

Homura shuffled awkwardly, and Take just laughed. "You think that'll work? I made a ton of those necklaces, 'cause I assumed more of ya'll would jump at the opportunity to be in my gang. He coulda stolen an extra one, easy."

"Look, I swear it wasn't me!" Seihiko said, voice cracking. "I was just going to clear my head. It was early, and I couldn't get to sleep, and I was just so, well, upset about the stupid fight Take dragged us into and I— Wait!" He turned suddenly and pointed to Akiko. "You! I ran into you!"

Akiko frowned. "Excuse me?"

But Seihiko continued, undaunted. "Yeah, of course it was you, Akiko! You think I couldn't recognize you in the dark? I ran into you as I was leaving my cabin. And-and you said you wanted my help with a… A prank…" Suddenly, he trailed off, throat having seemingly gone dry.

"Did this 'prank' involve leaving one of those snake necklaces by the gas container in the nature center?" asked Gorou pointedly.

Nodding, Seihiko swallowed and muttered, "She… she said she was gonna burn a fake Monokuma and make it look like Take did it to get him in trouble…"

"Wow, what a story!" Akiko clapped sarcastically. "Too bad you can't prove any of that shit happened! I wasn't even awake, let alone wondering around."

"And can you prove it didn't!?" Seihiko snapped back. "It's your word against mine! You tricked me into helping you kill someone!"

"Unfortunately, neither of you is looking good right now," Ikeda pointed out. "You both have a motive, and opportunity."

Take laughed. "Man, this is turning into a real shit show! The two people who hate me are the suspects. Lucky for me!"

"How are you so— so awful!?" grumbled Karen. She shot a pointed glare his way.

"Well, It's gotta be Akiko!" said Homura.

Kenji gave her an incredulous look. "And you're biased."

"Why didn't you mention you saw Akiko until now, Seihiko?" said Gorou. "It's kinda, well, really freaking important!"

Seihiko's panic was seeping into his voice. "Because if I did, I'd be admitting I was out that night!? And _he—"_ Seihiko pointed to Take. "He—basically threatened me when the investigation started. Said if I investigated with him and supported him in the trial, he wouldn't bring it up. Which he apparently was lying about too, _of course._ "

Take shrugged. "Nothing takes priority over watching out for number one. If you can't handle that, you can't handle being part of my gang. I _was_ gonna forgive you for being such a bitch once we got through this trial, but… man, you're really in deep shit."

"No shit, Sherlock! _I can see that!_ " Seihiko squealed, fear making his voice crack. "But really, I swear, I'm not the killer!"

Another voice cut him off. "There's gotta be _something_ that proves it one way or the other. But what?" Pondered Isao.

"Let's go over what exactly happened," Shiori suggested. "That might help us figure this out." _And honestly,_ she conceded, _I'm really not sure either. I just need to pay attention._

* * *

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Mr. Saiki's Account | Snake Necklace | Object in Kokoa's Hand | Fridge Log Sheet

SHIORI: Let's go over all of the events in order.

ISAO: Well, first the culprit, whoever that is, _got gasoline from the nature center._

GOROU: Then they used the rope and hook thing to get in the barn through the window.

KASHIE: …And as we know from her log sheet, _Kokoa left the mess hall after 5:45…_

KAREN: Perhaps Kokoa saw the culprit entering the barn, and followed them…

AKIKO: So, _she rushed in with her stupid note_ and got hit by Snake's stupid trap.

IKEDA: Given what Mr. Counselor said before, _all of this happened before 6:00._

IKEDA: With enough time for the culprit to escape, and return to their cabin.

SEIHIKO: Look, I know I was up a good bit before 5:45!

SEIHIKO: I ran into Akiko, she told me her plan…

SEIHIKO: … then _I gave her my necklace to use,_ walked around to clear my head, and went back to bed.

AKIKO: And where's your proof? None of that shit happened!

SEIHIKO: But it did!

-Truth Bullet Selected: Object in Kokoa's Hand-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

* * *

Shiori's eyes widened. "What did you just say, Akiko?"

"Huh?" Akiko blinked. "What do you mean, Bubbly?"

"You said Kokoa rushed in 'with her stupid note,' but…" Shiori swallowed. "How do know that's what she had? We could tell from her body she was holding something, but not what it was. So how do you know?"

"Maybe she's just… guessing?" Rika looked up at Monokuma. "You know, right? You can tell us if it's just a guess?"

Monokuma seemed to ponder that for a second. Then he laughed. "You know what? Sure! I'll tell you. Akiko is… correct! The object in Kokoa's hands is indeed a note!"

"And it says…?" asked Mr. Saiki, voice tentative, but perhaps hopeful.

"Nope!" Monokuma crowed. "I'm saving that juicy tidbit for later." He pointed to them all with a small paw, moving in a sweeping motion. "C'mon, you lil' bastards, I know that instant gratification is a big thing with your generation, but sometimes, the most _delectable_ shocks, the Michelin-starred surprises…" He let this hang in the air for a moment. "…Well, they're the ones you gotta wait for! Like a fine, blood-red wine! Upupu!" He cackled.

Ignoring their ursine antagonist, Homura turned to Akiko with pursed lips. "So, you were right! That can't be a coincidence."

After a tense moment, Akiko scoffed. "Okay, fine. Just 'cause _you_ lot couldn't tell what it was doesn't mean that _I_ didn't take a look."

"Except that doesn't line up!" Gorou countered. "You didn't let anyone touch the body! Heck, you only let a few people get close enough to even tell Kokoa was holding anything."

"I may not trust you lot with her, but I know I'm not gonna mess with anything!" A few beads of sweat were collecting on Akiko's brow. "So, I checked it out. No big deal. Sue me."

"Oh, we're _way_ beyond suing now." Ikeda chuckled. "That is a lie. You were never alone in the barn during the investigation, remember? I never saw you check the body while I was in the barn." He turned to Remy and Kenji. "As for after I left… Well, did you two see her investigate?"

"No," Remy replied. "She just… shooed us away when we tried to look at Kokoa's body."

"—And you didn't bother trying to say you somehow saw it before Kokoa went to the barn," said Ikeda, cutting off Akiko's offended look. "If you saw 'a note' at dinner, you would have no way of knowing she still had it. As for seeing it as she walked to the barn, well,didn't you say earlier when Seihiko accused you that you 'weren't even awake'?"

"You can't deny you'd _love_ to frame me for this," pressed Take with a dangerous smirk. "Honestly, I don't know why I didn't see it earlier! You wanted a true, final revenge, so you went to burn down my gang's hide out! You even managed to wrangle my little traitor buddy into your plan. And 'course, you couldn't let yourself get caught breaking another rule after getting in trouble yesterday…"

"Please, Akiko," Shiori cut in. "We need to know!" She looked Akiko dead in the eyes, pleading. "I… I wish there was another way, but… either one person dies, or everyone else does. If there's any explanation, or—or something I've missed, tell us! I know we all want to live. That means either proving you didn't do this, or—!" She sniffled, tears threatening to fall. Her voice trembled. "God, I can't…" She took a breath to steady herself. "I don't want to have to interrogate a friend like this again…!"

Akiko glanced around as everyone stared at her, waiting for her answer. After a long, tense moment, her gaze returned to Shiori, who was trying, and failing miserably, to hold back tears.

Straightening up, Akiko pointed a dramatic finger at her and bellowed, "Alright, Bubbly! One final challenge to prove your worth as a sleuth! As my friend, you're the one I trust to do it right. If I was the one who did this, there's one thing you have to explain first!"

Akiko added in a soft tone, "C'mon, Bubbly. You can do this. I know you can."

Shiori didn't know what to say. She just stared at her friend, aghast. _Why is she saying this? What is even going on here?_ She frowned. _And honestly, I hadn't really thought of—_

Shiori gasped aloud.

 _Wait… that's it! That's gotta be it!_

* * *

ARGUMENT ARMEMENT

START!

AKIKO: So, you say I'm the culprit?

AKIKO: You're gonna have to prove it!

AKIKO: I'm putting you to the test now, Bubbly!

SHIORI: _But why test me instead of defending yourself…?_

AKIKO: Can you handle this?

AKIKO: This isn't some story you're telling.

AKIKO: If you get this wrong…

AKIKO: …You'll have doomed everyone.

SHIORI: _I know this isn't a story…_

AKIKO: You've missed one thing!

AKIKO: Didn't you show us before?

AKIKO: The culprit had to have known about the traps!

AKIKO: I ain't part of Snake's little gang.

AKIKO: And you can't see the traps from the outside.

SHIORI: _There must be something…_

AKIKO: How could I have found out about the traps in the barn?

[PAINTING THE BARN]

BREAK!

* * *

Shiori jolted as she realized. "You could have found out the night before last— the night you painted the barn! We don't know if the traps were set that night! We already know you were there. You could have peeked inside, seen the traps, and decided not to enter, so you wouldn't reveal yourself…"

Take clapped. "Look at you! Being _so smart!_ " He turned to Akiko, his smirk impossibly smug. "Shiori's right, by the way. I hadn't quite gotten the traps fully set up, but they were there that night. You're cornered."

"It's still… well, mostly a coincidence," said Karen. "I'd feel more… secure in this if we had something more… concrete."

Waves of murmurs went around the circle of podiums. For a moment, Shiori began to doubt. _I really_ don't _have any proof… God, there really isn't enough here to prove it was Akiko, or even Seihiko! What are we gonna do now—?!_

"Hah! Well played! Looks like you got me."

Everyone jumped as Akiko shook her head slowly, head lowered.

"Wait," Shiori stammered, "Does that mean you, that you're—?"

"Admitting it? Yeah." Akiko looked up, eyes wet but tears refusing to fall. "I set the barn on fire. I locked the barn door and kicked over the ladder up to the loft so no one could follow me. And I got Yo-yo to give me his necklace to frame Snake. I killed Kokoa. The end."

No one spoke as they processed Akiko's confession. This silence didn't last long, though; a low growl grew into a furious shout as Monokuma fumed.

"What the hell was _that?!_ You just gave up? We didn't get to have a dramatic reveal, or a last piece of decisive evidence?! Just one little thing came up that you couldn't work around, and you decide to pre-maturely give our protagonist a final challenge?! That's like a carrot and stick, but-but without the stick! You just _gave_ it to her! There's no _point!_ What the _fuck?!_ "

"Hah! Your reaction just makes me even happier that I didn't bother beating around the bush!" Akiko cackled. "I never wanted to play your stupid game, Bear, so I ain't gonna play into your fucked up sense of entitlement to a 'dramatic story'!"

Gorou bit his lip, but nodded. "I mean, she's not wrong. And it means we don't have to be unsure going into the voting so…" He gave the tiniest of sly smiles. "Suck it, 'buddy.' Let us vote."

Monokuma banged his gavel on the podium. "No way! If I can't have a proper lead-in to the reveal of the blackened, I'm at least getting my case recap! I'm not gonna let you completely break the format! I'm not paid enough for this shit! Hell, I'm not even _paid!_ You!" He pointed to Shiori. "Recap! Now!"

"God, okay!" Shiori shouted, exasperated. "You made me sum up last time too. Why do you always demand I go over everything before we vote? We just got it all a moment ago! It's redundant!"

"Redundant, schme-dundant. Some folks in the audience have fish brains! They can barely remember their own names! Agh—What am I saying?! I don't have to answer you!" Monokuma countered. He jabbed a small paw Shiori's way. "Recap! Now! _Do it!"_

* * *

CLOSING ARGUMENT

START!

 _Act 1_

 _Things began last night. The culprit decided to burn down the barn, as a way to get back at Take. To do that, they knew that they needed to find a way to get into the barn without setting off the traps that Take had set. As they made their way to the nature center, they ran into Seihiko, and the two of them made a plan. The culprit lied to Seihiko to get him to give them his snake necklace, in order to frame Take. Only he, Seihiko, and Homura had those necklaces, so leaving one in a suspicious place would be the perfect Red Herring._

 _Act 2_

 _At the nature center, the culprit grabbed the supplies that they needed: The gasoline container, a hiking hook, and a long piece of rope. After leaving the necklace behind, they went to the barn. To get in without setting off any traps, they tied one end of the rope to the gas container, and the other to the hook. Using it as a grappling hook, they climbed up through the window, then pulled the gas up behind them. They were ready to put their plot into motion._

 _Act 3_

 _Meanwhile, Kokoa had been staying the night in the mess hall, cooking. She put her last batch of chocolates in the freezer at 5:45, then headed out of the mess hall. For uh, reasons we're still unclear about, Kokoa had a note with her. What we do know is that, as she walked back to the cabins, she saw the culprit going into the barn, and decided to follow them._

 _Act 4_

 _When Kokoa went through the barn's front door, bam! She was struck by the arrow trap. It had been triggered by the door opening, and the arrow hit her in the side. The culprit, not wanting to let Kokoa tell everyone what was happening, locked the barn door behind them so she couldn't get out. Then, the culprit left the barn, now burning because of the gasoline, the same way they came in. All they had to do was drop off the empty container by where'd they'd placed the necklace, and it was all set._

 _Act 5_

 _Even though the deed was done, things were still happening at the barn. As the fire raged, it burned through the rope holding up a crate of small carving tools, another one of Take's traps. The noise woke up Mr. Saiki, who saw through his window that the barn was burning. In order to stop it from spreading, he woke us all up with an announcement. We all rushed to the barn, and working together, we managed to stop the fire from spreading._

 _But, despite our best efforts, it was too late. Kokoa was already dead. Not from a direct blow, or even the arrow, but from breathing in too much smoke. The culprit who left Kokoa to die… was you, Akiko Katsumi!_

BREAK!

* * *

Shiori glared at Monokuma as he clapped condescendingly, remarking to her, "See, now was that so hard?"

Meanwhile, Akiko just gave her a thumbs up. "You got it in one, Bubbly. Couldn't have said it better myself."

"But you could have!" Shiori insisted. "I… I still don't even get half of what happened! Why leave Kokoa there; why trap her? She was your friend! If you were really worried about getting in trouble, couldn't you have just asked her to keep the secret? I think she would have, if you'd asked. I just… I don't get it! Those times we spent together, I never thought you would want to hurt someone for no reason! And I still don't _know_ your reason!"

"There's something else I'd like to know as well," said Ikeda, raising an eyebrow. "If you were so willing to give yourself up once actual evidence was brought against you, why didn't you just admit your guilt in the beginning?"

"As much as I love these juicy questions, it's Voting Time!" called Monokuma. "You kids remember the drill? Plug in your Monopads, and the voting screen will appear. And make sure to vote, because 'abstain' is not a choice here!"

Mechanically, Shiori followed instructions. She plugged in the Monopad, and when she finished selecting Akiko's name, she asked herself: _Why is Monokuma so insistent about the_ _formality? Why do we have these stupid,_ stupid _theatrics?_

Of course, even if she didn't want to admit it, she knew the answer. At the back of her mind, her inner author murmured: _It's the formula. Just like the drawing room scene in a classic mystery story. If you don't follow the conventions you've set up, you'll just upset the fans. But—_ She shook her head. _What fans? Who's Monokuma even trying to please? What kind of person would think this kind of sick game is fun?_

Shiori was jerked out of her musings when Monokuma shouted, voice rife with anticipation, "Alright, times up! Fucking _finally!_ Let's see who you all voted for! Ba-da-da-dum!"

The vote result graphic appeared on the mounted monitor, and which a small 'ping!' thirteen tally marks appeared beside Akiko's name. Shiori glanced at her, but Akiko just subtly nodded, apparently pleased with the result.

"Now! Let's see if you were correct!" The spinning roulette graphic replaced the voting screen, and hardly a moment later, it slowed to a stop, landing on, as Shiori expected, 'Akiko Katsumi.' She cringed at the cheap horn noises and confetti graphics coming from the display. It really added insult to injury.

"Wow, you got it right! What an unexpected result!" Shiori could almost taste the sarcasm dripping off Monokuma's voice. "The blackened who killed Kokoa Uzumaki, the Penultimate Chocolatier, was none other than our dear Akiko Katsumi, the Penultimate Drummer. How _truly_ unexpected…"

"Great; now there's no excuse for you to put off explanations," said Mr. Saiki.

Shiori clenched her hands into fists at her sides, feeling herself start to shake. " _Why,_ Akiko?"

"Because Coco betrayed me!" Akiko suddenly shouted. All at once she was bursting with righteous fury. "We were friends! I helped her with her chocolates, we hung out, we… bonded and all that crap. But then! She went and told Mr. Saiki about my plans to get even with Snake!"

Her glare shifted downwards. "I don't care about getting in trouble, but betraying my trust? That is the _worst_ thing you could possibly do. So yeah, I shut her in the barn. I knew she might die, but I didn't care. I _don't_ care."

There was a moment of silence, then Mr. Saiki let out a long, anguished groan. "Oh no… God, Akiko… You… You didn't have to do this…!"

Ikeda let out a long sigh. "Right… Of _course_ that was your main reason. I thought it might have been a factor. That's why I brought it up before…"

"Get to the point," Akiko snapped at him.

Mr. Saiki gulped. "Kokoa wasn't the one who told me about your fight. She came to me because she was concerned about you, that you were getting sick, and that you were running yourself ragged. But she _defended_ you when I brought up my suspicions that you'd graffitied the barn."

"I was the one who revealed your plan," said Ikeda. "I brought him the note you gave me."

"What?"

"For what it's worth, I didn't mean to deceive you. And I certainly never intended for things to end up like this. I… apologize, for my lack of foresight in that regard." Ikeda looked away, the closest thing to 'sheepish' Shiori had ever seen him.

Just as quickly as her anger had manifested, it disappeared and Akiko was left trembling. "I… She didn't…? God _dammit-!_

"I'll take that as my cue!" Everyone started at Monokuma's declaration. "It is true, by the way. Our chocolatier was just trying to look out for her friend, but then! A horrible misunderstanding! And that night, Kokoa worked and worked, trying to escape her feelings, but it seems she still had it on her mind…"

Gorou frowned, then ground out, "Are you going to read the letter, or what?"

Monokuma waved a paw dismissively. "I'm getting to it! Eh-hem…" After clearing his voice, he began to read it aloud.

"'Dear Akiko, There's been a misunderstanding. I tried to tell you before, but you wouldn't even look at me, so I guess a note will have to do. Hopefully you don't just rip this up. Look, I didn't tell Mr. Saiki on you. Why would I want to get you in trouble? We never know what the hell Monokuma's gonna pull on us next, so of course I couldn't risk that. But you can't deny you've been taking this thing with Take too far. I know you think he's awful, and suspicious, and he's threatening your position as toughest, or whatever. But, this is too much. And, honestly, I don't think it's healthy for you. You've been even more irritable the past few days, and you don't look like you're getting enough sleep… I was worried you'd get sick. So yeah, I talked to Mr. Saiki about that. Because I care about you—'"

Monokuma paused to note, "—Well, she _had_ written, 'you stupid, single-minded ass,' but she crossed that out. Anyway! Moving on." He cleared his throat again. "'So, Akiko, can we please talk about this like mature adults instead of this silent treatment? Talk to me in the morning. Kokoa." Monokuma took a liitle bow as he finished his oration.

Akiko gave one tiny, pained, "heh." She shook her head. "Well, fuck me. I really do deserve this, for the shit I put her through…"

"Don't say that!" shouted Shiori.

Karen bit her lip. "She did kill someone out of… uh, well…"

"Misplaced malice?" Remy suggested.

"Yes, that…"

"It's not just that!" Akiko interjected. "God, I… at first, I thought I could justify you all dying so I could escape. Hell, I was looking forward to knowing Snake was gonna get the axe, and everyone else? Well, it's just how it had to be, but…" She looked at Shiori, tears shining in her eyes.

"Bubbly, you said I was your friend, and… it just hit me. I didn't _want_ you to die for me. I'm… not worth it. And don't argue, 'cause you don't even know. Honestly, you wanna know what I would have done if I had gotten out of here? The band I'm in is bound to have found a new drummer by now, considering how often I've flaked on them before. They wouldn't put up with that shit. So, what's left? Going back to being a _junkie,_ a washed-out deadbeat that is never gonna go anywhere, because I'm too busy beating up people, or stealing shit to pay for my next high."

Several people gasped. Mr. Saiki, meanwhile, looked absolutely devastated, running a hand through his hair.

The only person who didn't look surprised was Ikeda. "So, you were a criminal. There was something about you that was familiar, but I was never sure…"

Akiko gave a humorless chuckle at that. "Not surprised you figured that out. Shit got real bad with my family, I turned to drugs to numb the pain, and eventually got caught up in it to pay for more. I… I got my best friend involved too. Aya. She's one of the only people I care about anymore, and even then, I ended up getting her hurt.I couldn't do that to you, Bubbly. You have a future and you're just… so fucking _good._ And I can't kill you. It wouldn't be directly, but I'd know I was the reason you were dead."

With a sniffle and a shudder, Shiori could not hold herself together. Her breath hitched as tears spilled from her eyes. Millions of tangled thoughts and feelings overflowed from her. Isao put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Behind her, she thought she could hear Mr. Saiki mumbling to himself. She didn't catch exactly what it was, but he sounded _pissed._

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was in various states of shock. Gorou swore under his breath. Karen and Ikeda just looked away, sadly and resigned, respectively. Rika shuffled her feet and played with one of her hair ribbons nervously. Kashie hid her face in her hood. Remy and Kenji gave each other awkward looks. Seihiko glared, but with less anger and panic then before, and Homura fiddled with her cast. Take's face was blank and unreadable.

The silence was broken by Monokuma giving a long laugh. "Upupupupu! Ah, wasn't I right, you lil' bastards? Nothing like some fine, craft-vintage _despair!_ Man, this is the stuff I live for! Now _this_ is the kind of high I crave! Who needs drugs when you can get good shit like _this_ for _free!"_ He used his paw to gesture to the trial's participants as Shiori sobbed in the background. "Ah, the drama! The emotion! The betrayal!" He shuddered in sheer joy. "Ooh, it's what keeps me going! Now then, let's get onto the main event!"

Homura's eyes widened. "You mean the—?"

"Yep! The execution, of course!"

Akiko wiped her tears away, then smirked. "Alright Bear, do your worse! 'Cause I'm not going to make it easy for you!" With that, she made a mad dash towards the elevator, flashing him the bird for a split second before taking off.

Above, sounds of machinery reverberated as Monokuma waggled his paw. "Uh-uh-uh! Not so fast! There has to be at least _some_ decorum for this performance. Now then, I've prepared a _very_ special punishment for Akiko Katsumi, the Penultimate Drummer!" A huge claw, like the one that had carried off Hideyo, descended from the ceiling and made to grab Akiko.

"Bring it on!" Akiko called as she turned to face the claw. It snatched her up easily. She struggled as it lifted her, but when her gaze fell on Shiori, she just smiled. "Give 'em hell for me, okay, Bubbly?"

* * *

AKIKO KATSUMI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY!

COMMENCING EXECUTION

 _The claw swung wildly through the air as Akiko struggled. The giant doors to the side of the trial opened, with Akiko dragged through an opening in a glass wall labeled 'Soundproof.' Once she was through, the opening closed with a hiss and she was dropped unceremoniously to the ground inside a tiny chamber. A neon sign reading 'Recording Studio in Use' clicked on, flickering ominously._

PENULTIMATE DRUMMER AKIKO KATSUMI'S EXECUTION:

IMPROVISED DRUM SOLO

 _Before Akiko could fully stand up, a pair of gigantic speakers rose up from the floor. Even though the group outside could not hear it, they could see the way the subwoofers moved the intense sound suddenly blasted into Akiko's ears. She immediately crumbled, covering her ears in vain as the speakers only seemed to increase in their blast. Small trickles of blood seeped through her fingers._

 _Only when Akiko was completely collapsed on the ground in pain did the speakers shut off. Slowly, she began to try to stand, but before she got her footing the wall behind her opened and the floor shifted, pulling her deeper. Down that conveyor belt stood a pair of strange, mechanical drum sticks. She jumped as the first one came down, so hard even those outside the glass though they could hear the 'boom.' Immediately Akiko was up and trying to keep pace with the belt to stay out of reach of the impending doom, but exhausted as she was from her other injury—and without her sense of balance to help her either—she tripped. Before she could recover, one of the drumsticks slammed down in front of her, blocking her. And with no escape, the second stick struck in the next second, and while the audience in the trial room couldn't hear the "crack," they saw Akiko shudder violently, then fall still. With that, the belt and sticks stopped, leaving Akiko in a pool of crimson. Motionless._

 _Dead._

 _Tinny, canned applause crept through the speakers within the trial room as Monokuma began to clap raucously. The lights went out, and the neon sign flickered off._

* * *

 _Hi all! Sorry for no author's note last time: I was in a rush to upload. But yes, the second trial is now concluded! This got... really intense. I don't think I realized how much so until I got to the end. Like last case, there will be a short denouement chapter next, and then chapter 3! Thank you all for sticking with the story, even when it takes me some time to finish chapters. Lots of stuff has been going on IRL that I won't get into, but I intend to see this story through to the end, even if it takes a long time. Thanks so much to starsinherwake on Twitter / carryingstarlightinherwake on AO3 for beta-ing this chapter, as well as the last few. Please leave a review with your thoughts, and if you'd like to join the Penultimates Discord server, PM me! Thanks again, and see you next time!_


	18. Chapter 2 (part 7)

The edges of Reijirou's vision went red, not from the lingering image of Akiko's body, but from his own hot, angry grief. The main target of his rage, Monokuma, whooped and whistled above his head.

"Yeah! Rock on man! Now that's what the kids call a 'banger,' am I right?"

"You… you…" Shiori choked on her sob.

"God, fuck you!" Gorou finished. "That was basically torture, and you try to make a stupid joke?!"

"I honestly don't have the words to describe how awful that was," Seihiko murmured, staring blankly at the ground.

"Got anything for us, Dictionary?" said Take, who's voice shook just a hint, despite the quip.

Karen just gripped the edge of her sweater, saying nothing.

"Leave her alone, Take," said Rika, attempting to sound serious through her sniffling.

Kashie was huddled down inside her coat. "I hate this… why can't we just go home…?"

"What do you even get out of this?" demanded Isao. During the execution, he and Shiori had drifted closer, with her leaning slightly on him for support. Even as he held Shiori steady, Reijirou could see his hands trembling.

Monokuma laughed. "I told you before: This is all for the sake of developing your talents. And, the only way for humans to grow is through _despair._ Don't you know the saying 'There's no success without hardship'?"

"That's a load of crap," snapped Kenji.

Gorou nodded. "Plenty of people get more success than they could ever deserve without suffering."

"And this! This isn't helping anyone!" Homura cried, tears still fresh on her face. "Just admit it's for your pleasure! You like seeing us suffer like a— crap, what's the word?"

"Sadist?" Remy suggested, seemingly in a daze.

Homura nodded. "Yeah, that!"

Ikeda frowned, but shook his head. "That can't be it. Why make the set-up so complicated; why have rules in place that allow us to escape?" His posture seemed to shift as he looked up at Monokuma. "I just don't understand the point. It's just so…"

"What? Don't let me interrupt your speculation! I love when you bastards try to figure it out." Monokuma gave Ikeda a shrug. "It's not like you'll ever guess it. No one ever does; I am the all time champion of 'Who's Smarter than a High School Prodigy?'! Upupupupu!" And with that, he hopped behind his judge chair and disappeared.

Ikeda looked away, and Reijirou thought that he saw the interrogator's clenched fists shake. _He was trying to goad Monokuma into revealing more information,_ he realized.

With the bear gone, Reijirou's grief turned on its other target: Himself. _—Stupid, how could I be so stupid? I suspected Akiko from the first time we saw the barn. What if I'd talked to her then? What if I'd said more when we met in my office with Take? I knew she and Kokoa were friends— I could have stopped all of this if I'd just told her… I almost did so many times, but I let myself get distracted!_ If he thought the guilt over the last case was awful, it was nothing compared to the gnawing, hungry beast currently tearing his heart apart.

After a moment of silence, Remy cleared his throat. "I guess… we head back now?"

"Hold the phone!" shouted Homura. She stormed up to Take. "I want an apology! You had no right to act like you did to Seihiko." She grabbed Seihiko's arm and shoved him in front of the bandit. "So, say sorry! Now!"

Take blinked, then gave a snort of a laugh. "Really? Are we in preschool again? Told you before: I was just being practical. He made sense as a suspect. I couldn't in _good conscience_ say nothing."

"'Good conscience' my ass!" Gorou retorted. "Like you even have one."

Seihiko finally looked Take in the eye. "You threatened me into helping you in exchange for withholding testimony. That isn't something just acting in 'good conscience' would do. You wanted to keep me as a lackey and then throw my under the bus when it suited you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Take shook his head. "That's how I roll. The only thing I can say 'sorry' about is that you apparently don't get it. Sure, the folks in my gang are at my disposal, but I still protect what's mine from outsiders." He gestured at the others. "You two stay with me, and I make sure none of _them_ have a chance to off you the next time you piss someone off, or end up as a sacrifice for the sake of one of Monokuma's motives."

Seihiko looked to Homura, who seemed horrified at Take's words, then moved to stand beside her. "I think we can handle ourselves just fine."

Rika popped in and glared up at Take, poking an accusing finger at his chest. "—And don't get so cocky! I'd never fight someone for no reason, but if _you_ start bullying people I can and _will_ kick your butt."

"You've kinda backed yourself into a corner, dude," said Gorou. "No one here is gonna take your bullshit after all this. Good job ruining any chance of having friends here. So... don't be stupid and stop antagonizing people."

Take frowned, looking genuinely angry for second, but then his face returned to its standard blasé expression. "Well. Screw you guys, then. I'm out." With that, he turned and headed for the elevator.

 _God, how will I even start with him?_ Reijirou wondered. He'd gotten almost nothing from him yesterday. When he, Take, and Akiko and been together to talk, the bandit had been silent. But then when they were cooking dinner, Take had rambled endlessly about the sorts of things he'd stolen, never letting Reijirou get a word in or revealing anything about his own feelings.

With moment of tension over, Ikeda turned to Reijirou. "Can we expect another meeting at the fire pit to… come to terms with this?" he asked.

Reijirou started. _Right! Right, crap, I can't stew in guilt right now. The students— Gotta focus on the students._ Clearing his throat, he said, "Yes. If anyone wants to talk about what happened as a group, stay at the fire pit. If you want to talk in private, you can always come to me."

Ikeda gave a small 'hmm,' before heading over to the elevator. The other students began to head that way as well. Before he could join them, Reijirou felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see Isao and Shiori with concerned expressions on their faces.

"Are you okay?" asked Shiori.

He shook himself slightly, then gave them a smile he hoped was reassuring. "I'm fine. I should be asking you all how you guys are doing."

Isao bit his lip, then shrugged. Shiori wiped a few lingering tears from her eyes and murmured, "I don't know if I feel worse than uh, last time, but it's… definitely not good."

Gorou poked his head around the duo and raised his hand with a deadpan expression. "Is wanting to punch something an acceptable response to this shit?"

Reijirou had to laugh a bit at that. "Yes, although I'd advice only punching a pillow so you don't hurt yourself."

"Oh darn," Gorou drawled. "I thought breaking my hand would be a good distraction."

Kashie immediately rushed over with a concerned expression. "Please don't!"

"Geez, don't worry." Gorou smiled and gave her a playful shove. "I was joking."

Although they all laughed, Reijirou couldn't help but notice the way Gorou fiercely shoved in hands into his jacket pockets.

With that, Reijirou and the rest of the students reached the elevator and, once it came back down, they all piled in for the long, awkward ride back to the surface. Remy and Kenji snuck off to a corner, talking in hushed tones. Homura clung to Seihiko's arm. Karen stood stiff, staring at the elevator door, while Rika weaved her way around the meager space, full of nervous energy. Shiori and her group stood together in silence, but they gave each other occasional reassuring glances.

Finally, they reached the surface again. Judging from the muddy state of the dirt around the fire pit, it had rained again during the trial, although the sky was thankfully clear now. It meant everyone had to carefully tip toe their way out of the elevator to avoid the mud.

As Reijirou sat down, Shiori waved to Homura and Seihiko. "How about you guys stay? It's honestly really helpful, and this trial was pretty intense for you guys."

Seihiko looked to Homura. "I'll stay if you wanna."

"Well…" Homura seemed to move forward, but then noticed Isao, Gorou, and Kashie joining the circle She bit her lip. "I uh, I think we're good." With that she led Seihiko away.

When Reijirou looked back to the group, he saw surprised to see that Ikeda had also taken a seat. Rika, Karen, Kenji, and Remy had not, but they still hung around the edge of the circle. _Well, maybe we can get them to come over if we get talking…_

Clearing his throat, he said, "Okay, so for those who didn't do this last time, this is just a space for us to talk about how we're feeling, no judgement. Everyone processes this sort of thing differently."

Everyone glanced around awkwardly, waiting for someone else to speak first. Kashie fiddled with the ears of her hood. Ikeda seemed content to just watch everyone else. Isao coughed, but still no one spoke.

Finally, Gorou uncurled himself from where he'd been hugging his knees and said, "Am I heartless for still thinking what Akiko did was stupid? Like, of course she didn't deserve to die like that, but she still killed someone over a misunderstanding."

"Not in my opinion," Ikeda replied. "You just have a good sense of… relative justice. We can acknowledge what Akiko did was wrong, while also believing her death was cruel and unusual."

Reijirou gave a small nod, not trusting himself to speak without his voice cracking from the hard lump in his throat.

"This is different from what happened with Hideyo," Isao noted. "Hideyo… she wasn't aiming to kill with what she did. But Akiko, well, there's no way she thought Kokoa would be okay. She locked the door, and everything..."

"Yeah, but Hideyo was in denial way longer," Gorou countered. "Look, I know you were friends with her, but she still tried to frame me during the trial. That shit stung."

Shiori looked up towards the sky. "I still don't really understand why Akiko acted the way she did during the trial. I mean, we were friends, we hung out, but… God, how do I even articulate this? I feel like... she was closer to me than I was to her?"

Kashie frowned. "How does that work?"

"I don't know!" Shiori stood up and started pacing. "The times we hung out, she sought me out, and I definitely felt like we bonded, but I don't know why she decided _I_ had to be the one to prove she did it." Her words began building and building in pitch and intensity. "I never knew all of that stuff that happened to her; I only told her a little about myself, and— and I'm just a fanfic writer, not a leader, or role model, or anything like that, so _why did she say I was so good?!"_

Reijirou stood up and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Breathe. First of all, you _are_ a good person. You would be regardless of if you were a leader, role model, or anything else; it's all about the good you do. Second, from what I understood from knowing Akiko, she placed a great deal of importance on the people she respected. It's clear to me she respected you a lot. She respected your desire to help the group, and your ability to say what needs to be said in the kindest way possible."

Shiori sniffled. "Thanks…"

Suddenly, Rika barreled into her and trapped her in a tight hug. "Of course you're good! We love you, Shiori, so no more being down on yourself!"

"Yeah," Isao said, coming over with Kashie and Gorou.

"And you are a good leader," said Gorou.

"And role model," added Kashie.

Finally, Shiori smiled. "Okay, get in here, all of you!" Soon, the whole group were in a giant group hug. Unfortunately, with Kashie being so tall and Shiori, Rika, and Gorou being so short, the hug was unbalanced, so after a moment of wobbly shuffling, everyone toppled onto the ground with a splash of mud. There was a moment of silence, then Shiori burst into laughter and yelled, "Who's up for a therapeutic mud fight?!"

Immediately Rika whooped, grabbed a handful of mud, and threw it at Gorou. Gorou blinked, then smirked. "Oh, oh, it's on!" He ducked behind Kashie, who just giggled, clearly a bit confused. Shiori and Isao joined them behind a log.

Reijirou just smiled and shook his head. _Considering how crazy this day has been, this might as well happen._

Ikeda stood up, and for a moment Reijirou thought the boy was going to leave, but then he stood next to Rika and gave a sweeping kick that easily splashed Kenji and Remy's legs.

Kenji jumped back. He looked ready to run, but then he saw that Remy had a handful of mud. He shook his head. "Oh no, nu-uh. Remy, come on—" Kenji didn't get to finish, because Remy shoved the mud in his face. Spitting to get the mud out of his mouth, he couldn't keep from laughing as he admonished, "In my mouth? Really? Fine! But, you get to match!" He flicked some of the mud from his face onto Remy's.

"I thought you wouldn't care about dirt, being a gardener," teased Shiori.

"I don't, usually!" Kenji replied as he and Remy found their own log to hide behind, "But one: It usually stays on my boots and gloves, and two: This stuff is cold! So, I hope _you_ can handle some dirt!" And soon, the two boys were flinging their own mud missiles.

In the chaos, Karen began to sneak away, until she was suddenly hit by a mud bomb in the back of her head. Rika crowed in delight. "I got you, Karen! Bet you can't get me back!"

For a moment, it seemed like Karen might explode. She trembled, removing her glasses and staring down at the ground. Just when Reijirou thought she might scream, instead she looked up. Her face was completely alight. With a battle cry, she kicked off her shoes, tossed aside her glasses, and pulled off her sweater, revealing a simple white tank top underneath. Then she tackled Rika into the mud.

From there, the fire pit descended into pure chaos. Mud flew everywhere as the forest rang with shouts and laughter. Reijirou couldn't keep track of who was throwing mud at who, just laughing along with the students as they released their pent up energy. _They really needed this,_ he thought, ducking behind one of the log benches, _A chance to just forget everything and just… be teens._

Eventually, it calmed down, and everyone was absolutely covered in mud. Most of the students sat panting on the group between lingering giggles, but Rika and Karen were still going at it. Reijirou watched as they darted back and forth, deftly ducking punches and dodging kicks despite the slippery ground. Finally they both fell to the ground as well. "That was… The best spar… Ever!" Rika huffed, smiling ear to ear. "We gotta do that more often!"

Karen sat up sharply, panic clearly on her face. "No, that wasn't— I didn't mean..." She looked around at everyone as her breath quickened.

Shiori started to stand. "Karen, it's fine!"

"No, it's not!" Karen screamed back. She scooped up her sweater, shakily put back on her glasses, and bolted.

Shiori took a step to follow her, but Reijirou stopped her. "Let me handle it," He whispered.

As Reijirou ran after Karen, his thoughts raced faster than his feet. _Whatever made Karen want to stop doing Jujutsu, it's coming in conflict with her connection to Rika. She was clearly having the time of her life, but she it seems like she feels guilty for it. But, why? With how she reacted, this… this might have been a long time coming._

He managed to catch her before she'd managed to dart into the girls' showers. "Karen, wait!"

"-Mr. Saiki, please," Karen stammered, her mud-covered hands slipping on the door handle, "I am… Perfectly salient. I just need to get clean after that… That lapse in fortuitousness, or rather… Uh…"

Reijirou sighed. "Karen. What is going on?"

"Nothing!" The tone in her voice said otherwise. "I suppose the stress of the trial made me… Forget myself. I am fine."

After a moment, Reijirou said, "Maybe you need to forget yourself more. because that was the happiest I've ever seen you."

Karen turned away, trying to fix her half-undone, mud-soaked bun. "I can't. Fighting is the worst. You're a teacher! How can you tell me fighting is okay? Didn't you break up Take and Akiko's fight? And look at them! Akiko was a murderer and criminal, and Take is literally a bandit and a giant jerk. Rika was forced to fight by criminals! Fighting will only lead to people getting hurt. No good person would do it willingly."

 _Woah, there's a lot to unpack here._ Reijirou tried to figure out a way to break the issue down. Slowly, he began, "There is a big difference between that kind of fighting, where you fight to hurt, and martial arts as a sport. There are ways to, well, practice fighting styles safely." Careful not to corner her, he took a step forward. "I think you know that, considering how much training you must have, given your skills. There is nothing wrong with enjoying that, while also being against violence for its own sake. I stopped Akiko and Take because I thought they meant to do each other serious harm. I didn't stop you and Rika because I know you two care about each other, and would stop before anyone was hurt."

"You don't know anything!" Karen spun around, tears hot on her cheeks. "Just because we held back then doesn't mean we would forever! Once you start letting yourself fight, it's only a matter of time before you end up fighting to hurt, or end up _getting_ hurt! I won't go down that path, and I won't let Rika either!"

"The fact you care so much means you that you wouldn't!" Reijirou countered. "And, I wish you would trust Rika more. She knows what she wants to do, and what she doesn't." He hesitated before adding, "Whatever situation she was in before, I'm gonna make sure she never has to fight for her life again. The same goes for you."

Karen just looked at him, eyes wide and disbelieving. Then she quickly slipped into the shower building.

He couldn't follow her, of course, so Reijirou took a breath, and began walking back to the mess building. The hollow feeling is his stomach he'd been ignoring seemed to feel heavier.

* * *

Reijirou managed to make it halfway through cleaning the mud off before he began to cry. Immediately after he got out of the shower, he threw himself face-first onto his bed, grabbed a pillow, and screamed into it. He lay there for what felt like a long time, intermittently screaming and sobbing from a rolling stew of anger, grief, shame, and guilt inside his core.

The familiar click of the TV turning on made Reijirou bolt upright.

"Man, melodramatic, much! I thought you were gonna be my straight man, but _noooooo;_ you're just as much of a drama queen as me!" Monokuma sighed. "Who'd have thought? Looks like we're both gonna have to vie for the 'Best Dramatic Performance' Oscar this year. Tragic."

"Don't compare me to you." Reijirou ground his teeth with a snarl.

"You still salty about the trial? _I'm_ the one who has a reason to be upset! You sass me, nearly ruining the illusion that we, you know, work together, and the blackened had the nerve to just give up without a proper fight!"

Reijirou just sat up, not bothering to hide his messy, red, tear-stained face, nor the fact that he was only wearing his boxers. _I have no dignity left with this bear. Keep your cool; you've already made him angry once today…_ "What do you want, then? An apology?"

"I mean, you _should_ be begging for mercy at this point, or at least trying to come up with an excuse if you wanted to convince me you were even kind of going along with this…"

"What would be the point? You clearly don't think I'm willing anymore, if you ever did…" He only barely resisted rolling his eyes. _Frankly, trying to frame everything in terms of how it be seen as playing along wasn't working anyway._

"Wow! You're just realizing that _now?_ " Monokuma spun in his chair, clearly bored. "Jeez, and I thought the soon-to-be college grad would be faster on the uptake. But, _no,_ not here for any of that! It's debrief time!"

"You summed up the trial pretty well yourself, just now," Reijirou said, his monotone hiding his returning anger.

"Okay, but we _gotta_ talk about how the motive went down. I was honestly sure one of the liars was gonna get the axe; it's basic paranoia and retaliation, see. But man, I do not think I could have predicted what Akiko did. The escalating revenge, the misunderstandings, the perceived betrayal? You can't formulate that kinda drama in a lab or a writers' room; that's pure, unscripted humanity turning in on itself, and I _love it!"_ Monokuma chuckled. "If this is the kinda shit we can get from working together on a motive, I can't wait to get your input for the next one!"

Reijirou's patience snapped. "Fuck you! Do you honestly think I'm going to give you anything after what happened? I mention these kids being private, and you corner them into revealing their secrets with that stupid 'Never Have I Ever' shit!" _If I'd known how he'd take what I said, I would have clammed up last time…!_

"What?" Monokuma said in the most sarcastic imitation of surprise. "I never _forced_ them to tell the truth. And I thought being honest and open was a counselor's whole thing!"

"Excuse me? Do you think I _wanted_ to use peer pressure and fear to get the students to reveal information they wouldn't otherwise share with me? And humiliate the ones who lied in front of everyone? Never. You think you're so brilliant, getting someone who works with teens to shake up your death game bullshit! Well, you should have picked someone else! Because, unlike you, I actually give a shit about these kids' well being!"

Monokuma had the gall to shrug. "You coulda fooled me, with how much you just hide away in your office. I thought someone who _really_ cared would be going to the students! Getting involved in their activities and all that lovey-dovey crap."

Finally, Reijirou faltered. "I… I just wanted to give them space."

"And look what giving Akiko and Kokoa 'space' did for them. Time to stew in anger, time to get caught up in the moment. Not to mention the fact you've abandoned them to go cry in your room!" The bear gave a maniacal laugh. "Man, for how much you act like you wanna stop me, you _suck_ at getting everyone to get along. You sure you don't secretly hate them and are glad to see them kill each other?"

"No! God, do you expect me to try and lock them all in one place where I can always watch them so they don't kill each other? That'd be torture, for them and for me! Not to mention that I still have to sleep, so it wouldn't even work." _Technically, I'm hardly sleeping from worry and nightmares anyway… That just makes what sleep I_ do _get when I eventually crash that much deeper._ "So to be completely clear; the one thing I want, more than anything, is for the rest of the students to make it out of here alive and unharmed. Whatever you threaten me into doing, that's not gonna change."

Monokuma sighed, then 'tut'ed like he was scolding a toddler. "I see. I thought maybe you'd get fed up with how _hopeless_ it is to try and save them, but you're a stubborn one. Ah, well. It's only gonna make this worse in the long run. 'Cause believe me…" Red eye twinkling, Monokuma leaned in closer. "... I can make things _so much harder for you._ " With that, the TV shut off.

Reijirou swallowed. _I may have just shot myself in the foot…_ He pondered what to do next as he got dressed. Finally, he shrugged, and headed towards the kitchen. _Screw it. I'm making enough comfort food for everyone, and no matter what Monokuma says, I'm gonna help these kids if it kills me._

* * *

 _In a hidden room, illuminated only by the glow of dozens of screens showing security footage all over the island, Monokuma chuckled. "Look at them! Trying to fight off the despair with mud fights, and food, and talking about feelings! But, it's still there, hiding in their sideways glances and too-long silences, tainting everything… Upupu! I've missed this! It's been way too long. Building the resources, the connections..." He turned around, speaking to the rest of the room. "Of course, I couldn't have done it without all of you! The work we've put in is paying off. Soon, the world will be getting a reminder that's been long overdue: You can't ignore despair forever!"_

 _As he laughed, more sounds filled the room: claps, stomps, and shouts of approval._

" _Yeah!"_

" _Bring on the despair!"_

" _It's the comeback!"_

" _Monokuma's return!"_

" _Long live despair!"_

* * *

 _Chapter 2: When Embarking on a Journey of Revenge, Dig Two Graves_

 _END_

 _Remaining Students: 12_

* * *

 _Hello! The second case has concluded! Hope you enjoyed the moment of reprieve and the hints of what's to come. Even though I struggled with this case in places, I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. As for where the story goes from here, all I'll say is that I'm excited. Expect plenty more friendship, drama, feelings, and mysteries to come. As always, thank you to starsinherwake on Twitter / carryingstarlightinherwake on AO3 for editing, and feel free to join our Discord! The link is in my profile. Until next time!_


	19. Chapter 3 (part 1)

" _So… you want me to find this advice columnist that you have never personally met, and that you don't have the legal name of."_

" _My friend and I did find out some stuff! See, Ask Nori has a blog, and so we went digging through the backlog to find info, from Q &As and that kinda thing. So, uh, we know 'Nori' is actually a guy, and which university he's been studying at, and that he's a psychology major!"_

" _... That really isn't much to go off of."_

" _I know! We uh… Well, kinda hit a dead end. Turns out, you can't just ask a newspaper for their staff list, or a university for a list of students. But this is important! I think he's in trouble, and I have no idea if anyone is looking for him! You gotta help! I know I'm just a high schooler, but I have the money to pay you and your website said you took strange requests and—!"_

" _Hold on. I never said I wouldn't take the case."_

" _Wait, you will? I thought I'd uh… have to do a lot more convincing."_

" _... Heh, it's funny, but you remind me why I decided to be a P.I."_

" _Really? Why's that?"_

" _So I can help those who have good intentions. Now, give me what info you have, and we'll get started…"_

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop_

* * *

Shiori wasn't sure if the fact that she almost felt normal the evening after the trial was a sign she was learning to handle the situation better, or a sign she was growing numb to it all. She'd actually felt mostly okay after the meeting, despite what happened with Karen. _Mr. Saiki can handle it. Heck, he's a counselor; he's been trained in this kinda stuff!_ The rest of the day had been quiet. She did some laundry, tidied the cabin as best she could, and carefully put all of Kokoa's things under the bunk bed. _For when we get out of here. Her family will want them._

By the time Shiori headed to the mess hall for some dinner, the ache in her chest had mostly subsided. (But she did her best to ignore the barn.) The moment she opened the double doors, she was hit with the smell of delicious food. On one of the long tables sat steaming bowls of tomato soup, grilled cheeses cut into triangles, pitchers of lemonade, and tiny chocolate chip cookies. By the kitchen door, Mr. Saiki gave Shiori a little wave.

"Woah, this is incredible!" she said, making her way over. "Did you make all of this yourself?"

Mr. Saiki nodded. "Yeah, but not all from scratch. Thankfully, I have a lot of practice making canned soup more interesting. It's amazing how a little bit of cream and some extra seasoning can take tomato to another level. Not quite as good as when my mom does it, though."

"It smells great." Shiori served herself a bowl, then added a sandwich and cookie to her plate. "Has anyone else come in?"

"A few," he replied. "Remy, Kenji and Karen came by just as I was finishing. It, uh, took some convincing for them to try the cookies after yesterday's, uh, mishap with the waffle iron."

Stifling a snort of laughter, Shiori murmured, "I did hear about that…"

Mr. Saiki rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Look, we never had one growing up, so I didn't know how long to cook the waffles for."

"Why make waffles then?" she countered. "Why not something you know how to make without burning everything?"

"I was in a rush, and there's pre-made waffle batter in the fridges."

Shiori hesitated, but then asked, "How is Karen?"

"She's… not any worse than she had been, but…" Mr. Saiki pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's stubborn. I just hope she and Rika can reconcile over this. They're really good for each other. What do you think of them, together?"

Something in the question triggered Shiori's fandom instincts, and she blurted out, "Yeah, I ship it." Then she realized what she just said, and felt her face heat up.

Mr. Saiki blinked. "You… what?"

"Oh my god, I can't believe I just said that." Shiori held her face in hands. "You must think I'm the biggest geek in the world; I don't usually say that stuff out loud, much less about my friends. Wait, do you even know what that means? Oh no you must be so confused, and I should really just shut up and—"

"No, no, you're fine," he reassured. "Things slip out sometimes, and my phrasing didn't help."

She paused. "Wait, so you _do_ know what shipping is?"

"I mean, if it still means what it did when I was in high school. I had a friend who read fanfiction, and she would tell me about debates she'd get into online about which couples she liked in her favorite shows… That _is_ what it means, right?"

"... Yes," she admitted, somewhat flabbergasted at Mr. Saiki's surprising amount of fanfic logic. "It really just slipped out, I swear! I trust Rika and Karen to work things out for themselves; I'm not gonna play matchmaker or anything."

Mr. Saiki gave her a comforting look. "Seriously, it's fine. Go eat. As for Karen, well… in the end, we each have to decide for ourselves what's most important to us."

Shiori took the chance to leave the conversation and took her food to a table to eat. Dipping a corner of her sandwich into the soup, she pondered what Mr. Saiki had said. _We each have to decide what's most important… what's that mean for me? What_ do _I think is most important here? As many of us surviving and escaping as possible, I guess… does that make the fact I've helped send two people to an execution okay? God, I wish there was a better option._ She frowned, then perked up slightly as she noticed Gorou and Isao entering the mess hall. _It just means we have to try harder to stop Monokuma! And at least I know I have people to turn to for help._

The two boys saw her, then quickly joined her at her table. She waved and said, "You guys have got to try to this! It's so good."

Gorou glanced over at Mr. Saiki as he grabbed his food. "Staying away from waffles this time?"

"I learned my lesson; I'm sticking to stuff I know I can make." Mr. Saiki gestured to the array of food. "That means simple comfort food."

Isao had also given himself some of everything, but seemed hesitant to go back to the table, eyeing a second sandwich. "Has uh, everyone been by to get food yet?"

Mr. Saiki shook his head. "No, but don't worry. I made more than enough for everyone."

Nodding gratefully, Isao took the sandwich and an extra cookie for good measure. Gorou gave him a look. "What?" asked Isao as he sat.

"I just didn't expect you to be so…" Gorou paused. "... restrained. With the food. You always get enough to feed an army."

Isao blushed and bit his lip. "I wasn't going to take more if it meant someone else wouldn't get any… And anyway! Dancing takes a lot of calories, so I'm used to eating a bunch." He took a sip of the soup and his eyes lit up. "Woah, this is so good! How long did it take to make this?"

Mr. Saiki rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "... It's actually just canned soup with some extra stuff in it. The cookies took more time because those were from scratch."

"This is canned!?" Isao exclaimed. "You gotta teach me how to do this! The soup I get from the school store is awful, but it's cheaper than the cafeteria, so…"

Gorou gave him a look. "Have you never looked up cooking hacks on the internet? That's how I learned how to eat non-garbage food all the time."

Shiori looked back and forth between the two boys. "Wait, so… both of you cook for yourselves?" _I know Gorou mentioned it, and Isao said something about a dance school he went to, but did he mention it was a boarding school? I forget…_

"Yeah," Gorou said. "My aunt works late, so I usually end up cooking."

"I didn't know you lived with your aunt." Isao frowned slightly. "Is it… hard for you? Being away from your parents?"

"No." The look on Gorou's face said, 'don't push it.' So, Shiori didn't.

Instead, she turned to Isao. "What about you? Is your dance school away from your parents?"

"Of course I miss them!" Isao replied immediately. Shiori flinched at the force of his reply, and he quickly added, "I mean, yeah it is. I uh, don't get to see them a lot, because I usually end up cast in shows that rehearse through breaks. I… actually haven't seen them in months. It hits Takara a lot harder than me, though."

"And Takara is…?" Mr. Saiki asked.

"My twin sister. She goes to the same ballet school as me."

"I don't know if I could go months without seeing my parents," Shiori said, nibbling on her sandwich. "My mom is basically my best friend, and my dad gives the best advice and—" Her voice caught, and suddenly she realized she was crying into her soup. "God, I miss them so much…"

Isao immediately reached his hand over to comfort her. "Don't worry! We'll get out of here, and you'll see them again."

"And I bet they're looking for you," Gorou murmured as he stirred his soup absently. "No way sixteen teens disappear and none of them are reported missing."

Shiori brushed her tears away. "Yeah, you're right… Let's just eat. It's been a long day, and we should all get some sleep."

* * *

The group finished their food in a quiet haze, and as soon as she returned to her cabin Shiori collapsed onto her bunk and promptly fell asleep. Unfortunately, her sleep was not pleasant. She tossed and turned, before bolting straight up in her bed. The details of the nightmare escaped her, but the terror made her jump at every shadowy corner of the cabin.

"Shiori…?" She jumped as she turned to see Homura sitting up and blinking at her. "You okay?"

Despite herself, Shiori gave a short laugh. "No…"

Homura glanced up at where Karen slept soundly, and threw her legs out of her bed. "Let's go for a walk."

"Now?" Shiori whispered. "It's gotta be like, 3:00 in the morning."

"You never gone on a night walk?" Homura gently pulled her up. "Trust me; it's, like, basically freaking magic."

 _Shiori had to admit, Homura was right. Although it was very dark, the near silence of the air, the hints of ocean sounds as they walked towards the shore, the crystal clear sky… it really seemed to make the island feel like another world._

* * *

SHIORI: Woah, I don't think I've ever seen the stars to clearly before.

HOMURA: I know, right? Makes me wish I knew any constellations or that stuff.

SHIORI: I don't really know many, but uh… there! Those three in a line? That's Orion's Belt.

HOMURA: Oh my god! That's so cool! You're so smart.

SHIORI: Eh, I just remember random stuff…

HOMURA: No way! Like, I barely make it through my classes. Most of the time I only pass by brute force memorization and cramming for tests. But you can like, solve crazy mysteries that I could barely follow.

SHIORI: Just because you struggle in school doesn't mean you aren't smart… Your intelligence just isn't suited to school.

HOMURA: Eh, it's cool. I mean, I've got my sharpshooting! Once my arm heals and we get out of here, I'm training my butt off to get good enough to win the Worldwide Competition!

SHIORI: Yeah! You'll make it.

HOMURA: 'Course I will! I already made it to Worldwide once; I just gotta win this time!

SHIORI: You did? What did you place?

HOMURA: Oh, I came dead last. But that was because of my arm. I had to _beg_ the doctors to let me compete anyway. Still managed to keep my accuracy in the 80% range, but that wasn't enough when you're competing against literally the best in the world.

SHIORI: Oh my god?

SHIORI: _What do I even say to that?!_

A: Are you crazy? Competing with a broken arm?

B: How did you get injured?

 _[C: 80% accuracy with a broken arm is incredible!]_

SHIORI: If you managed to be 80% accurate with an injured arm, I can't imagine how well you'd do once you're healed.

HOMURA: Aw, that's really sweet. Guess that's part of why I'm the Penultimate! Still, I'm not gonna get cocky; everyone else has been training and stuff while I recovered, and I can't really practice while we're stuck here… But it is a nice vacation! I get to hang with like, some of the coolest people I've ever met. And yes, that does include you!

SHIORI: Gah, now I'm blushing…

* * *

The two girls walked back to the cabin, smiling all the way, but before they went back inside, Homura stepped in front of the door. "Hey, uh… there's one other thing I wanna talk to you about."

"Sure," Shiori said. "What's going on?"

"Do you think—? Er, no, that's not the way to say this…" Homura ran a hand through her hair. "So, uh, you're pretty close to Isao and Gorou, right? And Kashie?"

Shiori narrowed her eyes. "Yeah…?"

"And they don't like, give you any bad vibes or anything? They're cool?"

"Of course they are!" Shiori sighed. "Is this about the lying thing? Look, those questions were way too personal—"

"I know, I know!" Homura waved her hands to try to calm Shiori down. "And like, I think I get that for Kashie. She genuinely seems nice, but really shy, so I get why she'd lie. But like, you gotta admit the boys are kinda sketchy, right? Gorou's so gloomy, and down on everybody, but doesn't seem like the type to hide his feelings? He's so open about his negativity, so why should he hide anything else?"

"That doesn't even make sense!" _He's clearly gone through some hard stuff! Am I the only one who sees that?_

But Homura continued, undaunted. "And look, Isao _seems_ like a nice guy, but he's kinda weird sometimes, you know? Like how he is with food? One time, I tried to reach past him for the salt and I swear he looked like he was gonna stab me for daring to be within an inch of his plate. That's not normal! And like, Hideyo seemed super nice and chill but then she ended up—"

"Shut up!" Shiori was startled by how loud her voice sounded in the stillness of the night, but she kept going. "Why does everyone keep trying to tell me how to act and who to be friends with!? You don't get it at all! Isao and Gorou are great friends! Gorou has a rough outside, but inside he's protective and caring and understanding. Isao is sweet and funny and actually _listens_ to me! Everybody has quirks, and guess what? Sometimes the reasons for those quirks are _kinda awful!_ Ever think of that?!"

Homura stood stunned, silent. Eventually, she managed to say, "I… I wasn't trying to tell you what to do, Shiori. So, I should trust you to know your friends. Just… Look, we gotta be careful, right? I got burned with Take. I don't want something like that to happen to you."

Shiori frowned. "Let's just get some sleep." With that, she turned and went back into the cabin. _God, I hope tomorrow is better…_

* * *

She ended up sleeping through most of the morning announcement, just barely catching the tail end of it. "... New areas are now open! Do some exploring and familiarize yourself with these new potential locations to murder your fellow campers! Upupu!"

 _That's right,_ Shiori thought as she sluggishly got out of bed, _Last time, the zip line, archery range, and barn opened up. Maybe we'll find something to help us escape, or that gives us a clue to how to beat Monokuma._ In an attempt to actually get all the way awake, she took a cold shower and jogged to the mess hall to grab breakfast.

Immediately going to the cabinet to get a granola bar, she turned back around and suddenly saw that Take standing by the microwave. He looked away from his cup noodles and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… hi?" _Abort! Abort! You don't even have anything to say to him!_

"Hey, little lady," Take said with a smile, before turning back to his noodles. "You gonna try and get me to apologize too? Or try discover my _tragic past_ that made me how I am so you can redeem me? That's how it always goes in stories, right?"

Shiori opened her mouth, then closed it, straightening up. "If you're gonna be a jerk, I don't want to hang out with you. And I doubt anyone else is gonna want to either. So…" She remembered Mr. Saiki's words from yesterday. "... You gotta decide for yourself what's most important to you." She took her granola bar and walked out of the kitchen.

After exiting the mess hall, Shiori took out her Monopad and pulled up the map. _Where might have opened up…?_ Almost half of the island was still grayed out, with the half beyond the barn taking up most of that space. Following her gut, she walked the path past the barn and saw that it's metal gate had been opened, leading deeper into the woods. Just as she reached it, she hesitated. _Should I wait for the others? Or maybe they've gone ahead already?_ In the end she decided to go on.

These woods seemed deeper and older than those beyond the pond. In a way it was sort of peaceful, walking through the trees. But at the same time, something felt off. Maybe it was the scarcity of bird songs, or the dark shapes in the shadows that Shiori couldn't quite believe were all rocks. But she walked faster.

After a good while walking, the path split off to the left, and a very short way down it stood a small, white building overgrown with plants. _Is that… a church?_ She wondered as she cautiously approached. It certainly had the shape of some of the churches she had seen, especially the ones from movies that took place in rural America. One story, white, with a steeple in the front and a cross hanging over the door. _Woah, I bet the steeple is that weird shape I saw from the zip line tower._ Still, it was clear no one had cared for the church in a long time. The windows were all broken or obscured by ivy, and various shrubs grew everywhere. The whole scene felt eerie, like this place was never meant to be seen by people again after they abandoned it.

Shiori gulped; then she heard the shrill call of a bird, a monotone, "Dang it," and a long exasperated sigh. Poking her head into the church, she saw Remy shielding his head from an extremely irate crow up in the eaves, while Kenji stood to the side with his face in hands. A small giggle escaped before she could stifle it. Remy looked over.

 _Busted,_ Shiori thought as she awkwardly entered the rest of the way. "You need some help?"

"No, I'm good," Remy said as he slowly backed up from the crow. "I startled her, so once she knows I'm not here to hurt her babies she'll be fine."

Shiori squinted and saw three fluffy little baby crows peeking from the top of the nest. "Oh. My. Gosh! They're so precious…!" She gave a tiny squeal of delight.

"They're less precious when they scare off the other birds that are actually helpful…" Kenji said as he yanked Remy out of range of another dive bomb.

 _Wait, birds can help gardens?_ Shiori decided not to voice that thought, and instead examined the interior of the church. It was somehow even creepier than the outside. The dusty windows made the light seeping into the space soft and hazy. Flowers, shrubs, and tiny trees grew up in corners where dirt had blown in. Part of the roof and collapsed, leaving debris on the floor to mingle with the deteriorating metal chairs. The mix of light and shadow made the crucifix hanging on the back wall look ominous.

"This almost reminds me of some of the churches back in my hometown," Remy commented out of nowhere.

"...Really?" Kenji asked. "I didn't know churches were so… uncomfortable feeling."

"Oh, a lot of them are, but not because they're all overgrown and stuff."

Shiori waited for more explanation, which she did not get. "So what is familiar?"

Remy gestured around. "Just the layout, I guess. I haven't been in one like this for a while though, what with traveling and stuff..."

Kenji carefully nudged one of the collapsed chairs. "This place is a wreck…"

"How long has this place even been here?" Shiori wondered. _Everything else of the islands has looked new, but this place has clearly been here for a long time…_

"At least as long as the army barracks down the way," Remy answered.

Shiori gapped. "There's an _army barracks_?!"

"Don't get your hopes up; it's as abandoned as this place. Everyone else is checking it out…" Kenji clarified. "Honestly, though, it gives me the creeps. I'm gonna go check my garden." Turning to exit the church, he glanced at Remy. "You coming?"

Remy pondered for a second. "... No. There are a lot of signs in English over there, and I don't know if everyone else can read them… I don't want someone to get hurt because they couldn't read a warning…" He closed the gap between them and gently took Kenji's hand. "I'll be by later, okay?"

Kenji flushed deep red. "... Sure." Then he noticed Shiori watching and quickly pulled his hand away from Remy. "Bye." He rushed out the door.

Shiori's mind was spinning. _Oh my god? That was so sweet and tender, and wait, what if they're_ together? _Obviously they're friends but that was a blush if I've ever seen one, and—_ She shook her head. _What is with you and pairing people lately? It's rude to stare! And even if they are together, Kenji… doesn't seem comfortable letting other people know._

Thankfully she stopped daydreaming in time to see Remy head out of the church. She jogged to catch up with him. "Hey, wait up! I want to see this place too!"

Remy stopped and let her catch up, but didn't say anything about what had just happened with Kenji. They just continued walking down the path together.

 _Maybe I can actually learn a bit more about Remy,_ Shiori thought.

* * *

SHIORI: Hey Remy? Do you think we could practice English? I'm still learning, and obviously you uh, know the language well…

 _Remy simply shrugged and switched to English._

REMY: What do you want to talk about?

SHIORI: Can we talk about what America is like?

REMY: … It's big.

SHIORI: I know that.

REMY: … You don't though.

SHIORI: I uh... you have to drive a long time to go to cities, and you do not have trains to get places! I know it is big!

REMY: No. There are six time zones in the continental U.S. There are deserts, and swamps, and plains, and rain forests. It's like… a mini version of the whole world… in a way.

SHIORI: Woah…

 _Remy remained silent for a while._

SHIORI: _I gotta say something, or we'll never get talking again…_

A: How do you get anywhere when it's that big?

 _[B: Where did you grow up?]_

C: … Is it true that people in high schools all get drunk and have parties?

SHIORI: Where did you grow up, Remy?

REMY: Minnesota.

SHIORI: … I do not know what that means.

REMY: It's in the Midwest.

SHIORI: ...I do not know what that means, either.

REMY: Ah, it's in the part of the U.S. that most people fly over when they go to California. We call it "flyover country."

SHIORI: I see. What does it look like?

REMY: … Flat. Lots of fields. Boring.

SHIORI: Is that why… uh, why you leave?

REMY: … I guess. Sometimes I miss it. But not usually.

SHIORI: Do you miss it now?

REMY: … yeah. Yeah I do.

* * *

They made small talk in English from then on. While they walked, Shiori thought she saw what could be the remains of collapsed buildings through the trees. "Are those…?"

"Probably the rest of the base," Remy finished. "Maybe they got bombed out. The building up ahead is mostly standing, see?" He pointed down the path, and Shiori saw a two story building made of bricks, with something that looked like it could be a gymnasium attached to the left side. Like the chapel, the windows were all dirty and/or broken, and vines grew up the sides. Just barely legible through the plants was a metal plaque.

"Hmm… 'Louis Barracks and Gymnesium?'" Shiori read, squinting to read English sign.

"I bet the other barracks is the...'Clark Barracks,'" Remy said, with a hint of a smile.

Shiori blinked.

"... Like Louis and Clark? The explorers?"

 _I never learned about American explorers in World History!_ She nodded anyway. "Let's go in."

Carefully pushing in the rotting wooden door, the two entered. Inside, they found the whole first floor was one giant, open room. Ruined, rusted cots lay scattered everywhere, most without any mattresses. A loud clatter brought her attention to one corner, where Rika, Homura, and Kashie stood in the right hand corner. As Shiori walked over, she realized what the noise was; Rika was lifting the cots over her head and tossing them to the side to unblock a door.

"Do you have to… throw them?" Kashie asked, covering her ears as another cot crashed to the ground.

Rika shrugged. "No. But it's faster!"

"What are you guys doing?" Shiori carefully stepped over some broken glass to finally come up to the door.

"We wanna see what this room is!" Rika cheered as she threw the final cot over Shiori's head. Shiori ducked.

Homura pointed to a small plaque next to the door. "Rika read this for us, and it's the 'Officer's Quarters!' Like a police officer's, right? It might have something to help us escape, like a phone, or a radio—"

"I think it means an army officer," Shiori cut in. "Those are the soldiers who are like, in charge of people, I think. But there could still be important stuff in there!"

"Then let's go!" Rika didn't even bother to check if the door was locked, opting instead to simply kick in the door.

The inside of the room was cast in harsh shadows, the only light coming in from the open door and the broken window opposite. The rotten remains of what might have been a desk covered half of the floor, the other half was occupied by the cot growing moss out of it's mattress, and a thoroughly rusted filing cabinet leaned precariously in one corner.

Shiori went to the filing cabinet, and, after a moment of struggle, opened the top drawer. As soon as she did, a horrible, wet, moldy smell permeated the room. She immediately covered her nose and mouth. "Maybe don't come in? I don't know if this mold is dangerous…" Careful not to disturb the other papers too much, she removed the first sheet. The paper was almost completely deteriorated, crumbling even in her gentle touch and waterlogged to the point of illegibility. _There goes the plan of seeing if there was any info about the island…_ She put the paper where it came from. Then she made a hasty exit.

"I was getting worried. About the mold, I mean." Kashie played with the edge of her hood, deep in thought. "Is it really safe to be in here for too long?"

Homura's eyes went wide. "Oh crap, I saw a show on TV about a mold that makes ants become zombies; are we gonna be zombified!?"

"Is that a thing?!" Rika shouted.

"I mean, kinda? But, it doesn't work on people…" Shiori sighed.

Suddenly Remy appeared behind Kashie. "Mold isn't actually all that dangerous health wise. It can affect breathing over a long period... but mostly it makes you cough and makes the building less structurally sound."

"Besides," Shiori continued, "With all the broken windows, it's at least well-ventilated in here."

Homura calmed down at that. "Oh, thank god."

Shiori spent the next fifteen or so minutes combing through the debris on the floor of the main room. She wasn't sure what she was even looking for; in the end, all she found of interest were a broken watch, a bottle that (according to what was left of the label) once held whiskey, and unopened packet of gum. And several tin cans full to the brim with the remains of cigarettes. But those weren't interesting; just gross.

Feeling satisfied with her search of the main room, Shiori moved on to the door in the middle of the left wall. Checking the sign, it simply said 'Showers.' _Hope it's not too wet in here…_ She thought, covering her mouth again in preparation as she opened the door.

Like the main room, everything looked overgrown, rusted, and otherwise run down. All along the right side of the room were bare bones shower heads, with a slight step down into the shower area. In the right corner near the door were several sinks, then next to them on the right wall were four (frankly disgusting) urinals. In the back right corner stood a few bathroom stalls. The room didn't smell nearly as moldy as she expected, but it was still dirty and, more importantly, _extremely_ dark _._ The only light came from thin, dusty windows near the ceiling, leaving the whole room in hazy, not-quite light. She crossed the room quickly and opened the door opposite.

Blinking at the sudden change in lighting, Shiori saw the showers led directly into the gymnasium. Giant windows, some broken, let in a great deal of light. The various grasses, bushes, and even a few trees that had sprouted in corners seemed to have taken advantage of the light. Amongst some of the plants she could make out the shape of some pieces of weight lifting and exercise equipment: dumbbells, a few exercise bikes, a couple machines Shiori thought she might have seen before, but certainly couldn't name. On the floor she could just make out lanes for a running track.

After taking all this in, Shiori turned her attention to the other people in the gym. Seihiko was examining a set of lockers along the back wall. Gorou picked his way through the mess of plants to get a better look at the equipment. In the center of the track, Isao bounced from foot to the other, seeming to test the quality of the floor, before launching into a combination of turns and leaps and—

 _Oh wow._ Shiori's mind ground to a halt as she watched him. For a few moments she could do nothing but stare as Isao danced, transfixed. When he finished, she immediately applauded with cheer.

Isao jumped a bit at that, clearly unaware anyone was watching. "Oh! Shiori, hey!"

"This place is pretty spooky, huh?" Shiori said as she met him in the center of the track.

"Yeah." Isao shrugged. "At the same time though, it's kinda peaceful? Or… humbling, I guess. To remember that nature always takes things back in the end…"

Shiori looked around. "I mean… sure? But I'm more concerned about why this place is even _here_."

"It had to have been here a long time," Gorou shouted from the corner he was investigating. "All this growth, and the degradation… you can't fake this. So no way Monokuma just set it up as a 'haunted area' or whatever."

Seihiko perked up as well. "Well then, why didn't Monokuma tear this place down? Everything else we've seen in the camp is new, so why leave this…?"

Shiori pursed her lips. "Well… having a creepy place like this at a summer camp is… kinda a thing in movies and stuff? It isn't usually a military building, but abandoned places, like old cabins, or caves, or mines, or whatever, are a staple of scary movies, and so are camps, I guess? God, I'm not making sense, but this totally is a trope! And Monokuma loves his tropes…"

" _And_ if he didn't have to build it himself, all the better for him," Isao finished. "I mean, he always talks about things being out of his 'budget' or whatever."

 _What does it all mean?_ Shiori wondered. _I mean, of course it would take an insane amount of money to set all this up, but Monokuma seems to act like the budget is a big inconvenience… He talks about making us 'despair,' but why do it with these complex scenarios if money is an issue? Then again, he has all these mystery and horror tropes he wants fulfilled, like we're just characters in a story he's making. This really doesn't make sense._

"Hey guys…?" Shiori, Isao, and Seihiko all turned to the corner where Gorou had called from. "We got a creepy-ass locked door here."

Immediately they joined him. Gorou held aside some ivy, revealing a grimy metal door. While there was a sign on it, weather and time had rendered it completely illegible. It was heavily fortified though, like a fire door, and unlike the office door, this one had a deadbolt. _Guess Rika isn't kicking this one in…_ The only visible part of the sign was a symbol that looked far too similar to the 'radioactive' symbol for Shiori's liking. _I do not want to get radiation poisoning, thank you. Or run into nuclear zombies, which honestly I wouldn't be surprised by, at this point. Still…_

"I wonder where is leads?" Isao asked.

"We could go around the outside and see," Shiori suggested, "Since that lock doesn't look like it's budging."

Isao smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Exiting through the double doors back on the other side of the gym, they made their way around the outside of the building. Shiori took the chance to say, "You uh, looked great in there. The dancing, I mean! Was that from something, or…?"

"Oh no!" Isao laughed sheepishly. "Just a warm up exercise I like to do if I need to test the floor of a space. It was uh, not super great actually. The water that's gotten in has really degraded the floor, and even then, tracks aren't really designed with dancing in mind? Sure, there's some overlap in terms of what's useful for running versus dancing, but runners don't have to think about jumping in the same way a dancer does, you know?"

"I think I get it." And Shiori did. _Just because both artists and writers need paper doesn't mean they need the same paper…_ She smiled a bit. _It's so nice to just talk about something besides… all this._

After a few minutes they rounded the last corner of the gym, and behind the place where the locked door was…

"Oh. It's just a tiny side room." Coming closer, to Shiori it looked like it could be anything from a boiler room to a supply closet. There was another door on the outside, although it looked just as impenetrable as the one inside, and offered no extra information.

Isao shook his head. "Well, that didn't help much…"

"Maybe it's where they keep the super secret super mutant experiment done wrong," Shiori suggested, stifling a giggle.

"Or, or!" Isao perked up at the chance to get in on the joke. "The entrance to the underground testing facility where they work on how to melt people's brains with uh… television!"

Shiori smiled. "Oh no," she said cheekily, "Considering the age of this building, it had to have been brainwashing via the _radio._ "

They laughed as they came up with more and more ridiculous theories on the walk back to the front entrance of the barracks. As they opened the door, Shiori asked, "I still need to check out the second floor; wanna come?"

"Sounds good." With that, they crossed the main room to the set of stairs opposite. Thankfully, said stairs had been made of concrete, so they hadn't deteriorated too much, although Shiori did take care to avoid any spots that looked too crumbled. Isao being right behind reassured her too. _Okay, do_ not _picture him catching you if you trip, because I want to keep having actual human conversations, thank you, brain!_

When they reached it, the second floor turned out to look almost identical to the first, with a few differences. There were more windows, so more light spilled into the giant, empty space. The whole right wall was actually a giant window overlooking the gym. Fewer plants had managed to take root, although Shiori spotted at least three birds nests in the rafters. Beyond that though, the sea of rusted cots, piles of trash and cigarette butts, and occasional moldy mattress looked identical to downstairs.

Up by one of the windows, Karen seemed to be holding an old book up to the light. Next to her stood Remy and Ikeda. Remy leaned over her shoulder to look at the book, while Ikeda flipped through a stack of papers.

 _Oh wow, they might have actually found something!_ Giving Isao a quick look, Shiori immediately rushed over. "What did you guys find?"

Remy looked up, frowning. "We think it's a… journal, or something, but it's all hand written… Even I can barely make anything out. And it's all pretty boring. Just… day to day training stuff. 'Ran this drill, patrolled this place, played poker with so-and-so.' So…"

"Potentially interesting from a historical perspective, but largely useless for us," concluded Ikeda. "Still, it confirms one thing; this _is_ the last remains of an army base. A US army base from a long time ago."

"Hmm…" Shiori hummed.

"What about those papers?" asked Karen, looking over at Ikeda. "The folder you found them in seemed quite… superior. Or uh, the seal gives them a sense of importance."

Ikeda pursed his lips. "Quite dense and full of technical language I don't fully know. It's going to take time to dig through this."

Isao joined them as Ikeda flipped to the next page. "Well, at least it's something, right?" His voice was tentatively hopeful. "Are they from the office down stairs? I know some people were trying to get into it earlier…"

"We did," Shiori replied, "But the papers there were all moldy and water damaged. I couldn't make anything out."

Karen gestured to the back left corner of the room, which seemed to hold a second office. "Bad luck then. The door on this floor is… inscrutably difficult to open."

"'Inscrutable' is for things that are difficult to understand." Ikeda sighed, finally putting the papers down. "We understand why it won't open; the lock and hinges are so degraded, it would take power tools to get the door open." There was an edge to his usually collected voice.

Karen pursed her lips a bit. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "I assume… a well placed kick would not do the trick?"

"It worked downstairs…" Shiori offered. _Also, did Karen just offer to use her martial arts skills outside of trying to protect Rika? Progress! I think!_

"No, unfortunately. This room is certainly locked, while the other was just jammed."

"If we need to pick the lock," said Remy, "The person to ask would be… Take, honestly."

Ikeda frowned, but nodded. "Unfortunately, you're right. My own skills in that regard are limited, but someone whose talent is stealing would certainly have to skills to open it.

Shiori shivered. _Even if it's to get info on the island, I_ really _don't want to talk to him…_

"Where is he, anyway?" Isao looked around the room. "I feel like I remember seeing him come in with us earlier?"

Karen rolled her eyes. "He came up here with us, but went back downstairs once we started trying to…"

"Decipher," Ikeda supplied, despite the fact he was already walking away to head downstairs.

"Right! Decipher, the book."

Remy played with his camera strap. "I don't think I saw him when I headed up… I was trying to get a picture of a spider's web. It was so perfectly lit…"

Shiori immediately gulped. "How did that go?" She asked, slowly. _I really don't want to end up with spiders on my head because of Remy's weird animal luck._

"...Fine. Why wouldn't it? Animals like me. Although, insects just sort of… do their own thing, mostly."

Shiori barely resisted sighing with relief.

"Was it a poisonous spider?" asked Karen, who was not as relieved as Shiori. "I admit I'm… not used to being amongst so much nature all of the time. I live in the city."

Isao nodded. "Me too. One of my classmates is from the country, and she said one of her cousins had to go to the hospital after being stung by giant hornets."

"I didn't see any hornet's nests." Remy looked at the others with an expression that might have been surprise. "You guys haven't been stung by a bee yourself?"

"Once," said Shiori, "On my ear; it was awful."

Remy blinked. "I got bitten by a bull snake when I was 11."

"Oh my god?"

Before the conversation could go any further, Mr. Saiki's voice drifted in from the camp intercoms outside. "Hello everyone! I hope today is treating you well. I decided to follow through on those bonding activities, so please come by the mess hall for the Talent Camp for Penultimate Student's first ever Field Day! There'll be games, crafts, music, all of that! Plus plenty of food and a full day of events! The more people who come, the more fun it will be, so I hope to see you all there!"

Isao already looked excited. "Wow, I can't believe Mr. Saiki's set something like this up for us. I could use some more fun."

"Our escape plans… aren't exactly going anywhere…" Remy added.

Kren straightened her glasses. "And we can always come back to this. It's not as though the books will, well… get up and walk away."

Shiori glanced at the office once more. _We're so close to maybe finding something useful… but yeah, it's not like we're in a rush, right?_ Smiling, Shiori declared, "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

* * *

So go they did. And Shiori spent the rest of the day in a happy haze of food, friends, games, and activities. Mr. Saiki had really outdone himself. Every possible fun thing he had the means to provide, and a few things he kind of didn't, had been laid out for the students. A seemingly endless supply of picnic food, craft activities like knitting or origami, physical games like capture the flag and soccer, even makeshift board and card games. In the end, there was something for everyone, and Shiori gleefully drifted from one area to another with her friends. She could not believe how into the Field Day everyone seemed. Kenji had been dragged there by Remy, but ended up spending hours at the origami table folding different paper flowers. Even Ikeda had been there, more on the edge of things but still smiling and occasionally joining in a game of chess or cards. The only one who hadn't come… was Take.

 _Where even is he?_ Shiori thought to herself as she walked back to her cabin, finally spent. _I saw him once this morning but… God, even if he's a jerk, I hope he's okay._ She spared his cabin a glance as she entered her own. _And hopefully he isn't planning something… bad._

In the end she decided to deal with the issue of Take tomorrow. Changing into her sleeping things, Shiori settled down to sleep for the night…

Only to be jolted awake just as she was falling asleep. A blaring siren almost drowned out her own thoughts. Occasionally Monokuma's voice bellowed, "All campers to the flag pole within five minutes! Failure to arrive will result punishment!"

Shiori managed to groggily grab her shoes as she dashed into the semi-cool night air. _I wish I had my longer pajama pants instead of these shorts… At least I wore a tee tonight instead of a cami._ She noticed more people as she walked. Most were in what looked like sleep clothes; Rika was in a giant t-shirt, Karen in a black night gown, Seihiko in a white tee and boxers. Some had thrown on jackets or shoes, like Kenji and Isao. Only Gorou was actually dressed.

Shiori walked over to Isao and Gorou once they all reached the flagpole. "What is even going on?" she asked.

"No clue," said Gorou. "I mean, I was kinda expecting Monokuma to announce a motive tomorrow, since he waited a day after the last trial to give the previous one, but…"

"If this is the motive," Shiori wondered grumpily, "Why does he have to give it in the middle of the night? It might be summer but it's not exactly warm out here!"

Isao immediately took off his sweatshirt. "Here, you can use this."

Shiori blushed so deeply she was surprised no one seemed to notice. She silently took the sweatshirt and wrapped it around her shoulders. It didn't smell like anything, but it was cozy.

Kashie ran up the group, still wearing her bear coat over her pajamas. "Did I get here in time?" she panted.

Gorou looked around "Seems like. But Take's still not—"

"Ah, were you worried about me?" Suddenly Take appeared between the trees behind the medical building. "Well, no need to fear! Why? 'Cause—"

"Alrighty, you bastards!" Everyone looked up to see that Monokuma had appeared at the top of the flagpole. "It's time to reveal your next motive! I was _so_ disgusted by that 'Field Day' crap that I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning!"

"Get to the point… so we can go back to sleep," grumbled Kenji under his breath.

Shiori looked around, and realized with a start that Mr. Saiki wasn't there. _What's keeping him?_

She turned her attention back to Monokuma. "I think you lot have gotten too comfortable with things around here! If a status quo is allowed to go on for too long, things get stale! And since you all don't really seem _grateful_ to be at this amazing camp I made for you…" His red eye glinted in the moonlight. "... All camp buildings are now closed to everyone but camp staff! And don't even try to sneak in; you'll be a blood stain on the wall before you finish picking the lock."

Shiori shuddered, but not from the cold. "But… how will we get food then?"

Monokuma swayed cheerfully back and forth. "Well, you could always ask Mr. Saiki to bring you food! He's been content to do that the past few days already, right? And I mean, he cares _so much_ about you all!"

 _Where are you going with this?_ Shiori thought as her stomach did nervous flip-flops.

"In fact!" Monokuma's voice seemed to be dripping with glee. "I think I'll play you a little bit of the conversation we had the day of the last trial!"

Through the static of the intercoms came Mr. Saiki's voice. "...you're so brilliant, getting someone who works with teens… I mention these kids being private, and you corner them into revealing their secrets… I _wanted_ to use peer pressure and fear to get the students to reveal information…"

Gasps echoed around Shiori as her thoughts raced. _This isn't right… this has to be fake! Mr. Saiki never would have said any of this!_

The intercom went on, heedless of her internal begging. "Do you honestly think… I actually give a shit about these kids' well being?" Only then did the intercom shut off.

Monokuma laughed, of course. "Upupupu! Hope you liked seeing that _hidden_ side of Mr. Saiki! Just remember this; once somebody kicks the bucket, all camp buildings will reopen! So if you want a shower, or clothes, or food, and you don't want to rely on your _glorious_ counselor for them… Well, you'd better get killing! Chop chop, you lil' shits!" With that he jumped off the pole to the roof of one of the buildings, then disappeared from sight.

"Wait!" Shiori nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden exclamation. She turned to see Mr. Saiki, wide eyed and panting. His expression was… difficult to read. _Concern? Worry? Or… guilt?_

* * *

 _Oh no, a cliff hanger! Welcome to Chapter 3! Have this nice little present for the beginning of the Holiday season. Next up will be a chapter from Reijirou's perspective (oh boy), so the poll for who he should talk to will go up with this chapter! As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, and if you'd like to join the discord for this story, the link is on my profile page! Thanks to starsinherwake on Twitter / carryingstarlightinherwake on AO3 for editing, and thank you for reading._


	20. Chapter 3 (part 2)

Reijirou starred in utter horror at his assembled students. _I did not think things could get any worse. I knew sassing Monokuma would get me in trouble, but this? This is excessive!_

And the Field Day yesterday had gone so well; everyone hanging out, having fun, and no dangerous objects or bad feelings were had. Reijirou had wished Take was there so he could keep an eye on him, but even without him there, he'd been happy.

Reijirou was in the middle of dreaming up more ways to keep the students happy when he'd finally woken up. In his rush to get dressed he'd stubbed his toe, which ended up slowing down far more than he would have liked. Even then, he heard his own, doctored words echo across the island from over the intercoms, and his heart jumped into his throat. _That's not what I meant; I never wanted any of this! I just want you all to be safe…_

But when he came face to face with the crowd of shocked, angry teenage faces, his throat seemed to close up like a clam.

"What was that!?" screamed Homura. "Is that what you really think of us? You're… you're just like Monokuma!"

"I'm sure this is a misunderstanding!" said Shiori, her voice shrill. "It— it must just be taken out of context!"

Seihiko looked unsure. "But… he did say he told Monokuma he thought we were private."

"Which almost certainly led to the use of the 'Never Have I Ever' motive," Ikeda finished.

Remy glanced at Ikeda. "Does that mean… you believe all this?"

"I never said that."

"I believe in Mr. Saiki!" said Rika with confidence. "He is always super nice, even when he doesn't have to be, and he gives actually super good advice!"

Karen turned at Rika, then to Reijirou with a thoughtful look in her eye. "... I can't say agree."

Rika pouted, then stuck out her tongue. "Quit being grumpy! Just because Mr. Saiki tried to help you and you didn't want him to—"

"You don't even know what was said!"

Gorou rolled his eyes. "Look, whatever we think about what was said whenever the fuck, we can't ignore one thing." He gave Reijirou a hard look, and he couldn't tell if Gorou was angry, hurt, or both. "Monokuma was able to record that conversation, which means he can probably record everything that's said on the island…"

Kashie trembled. "So… so even if he's not here, he can still see _and_ hear us…?"

"We're leaving!" shouted Homura as she grabbed Seihiko by the arm and bolted from the rest of the group.

"Gorou, please," pleaded Shiori, "You're… scaring everyone. I mean, it's not like this changes anything, right? We knew Monokuma was uh, watching and stuff. That doesn't mean we can't trust Mr. Saiki! He wants to help! He's… he's _been_ helping..."

Reijirou tried desperately to swallow the lump in his throat, but Take interrupted him. "Well, this was a big waste of time. Teach?"

Still in a haze, Reijirou managed to answer, "Yes?"

"Where're you gonna bring us food?"

"Uh… here, I suppose? It's, uh… probably too early for breakfast…"

Remy raised his hand. "Can we have it now? I don't think I'm going to go back to sleep, and we can't exactly go back to the cabins…"

"Wait, the cabins are locked too?!" Rika cried in dismay. "But I forgot Mr. Green!" She ran back towards the cabins.

Karen wrinkled her nose. "I do not like the idea of being stuck in our sleeping clothes…"

"Where _are_ we gonna sleep?" Isao looked a bit panicked. "I mean, it's not freezing out here, but it's not exactly comfortable, and what if it rains again?"

"What about the barracks?" Kashie suggested. "Those aren't really, uh, part of the camp, right?"

"Yes!" Shiori perked up, seeming to latch onto the good news. "We can stay there! It has a roof, and plenty of room! We'll just need to uh, clean it up."

Reijirou was so tempted to say, _I can unlock my office door and you can sleep in the mess hall! Then you'll have food and you'll be safe!_ But still, everything was spinning around him. _This is what Monokuma meant when he said he could make it harder for me… There's no way they'd all go there now, and no way Monokuma would allow it… Shit! Fuck! How do things keep getting even worse?!_ Instead, Reijirou finally found his voice and said, "Of course. Do what you think is best. I'll… go get some food. And supplies."

As he turned to rush away, he heard Shiori ask, "You still believe in Mr. Saiki, right Isao?"

He couldn't see Isao's face when he replied. "I… I think he wants to help… I'm just not sure if it's the kind of help we need…"

Reijirou fumbled with the key to his office and darted inside, slamming the door behind him. "Fuck!" He pounded his fist on the wall beside him. Slowly, he took a breath… and then a few more breathes, straightened up, and got to work.

First, Reijirou snatched the first aid kit from the shelf. Next he threw open the door to the mess hall and made his way to the laundry room. He shoved all of the bedding from the shelves above the washers into one of the linen laundry bags. Dragging the heavy bag behind him, his next stop was the kitchen. As he began pulling food off of shelves, he heard a familiar chuckle behind him.

"Upupu! And what are you doing, dear co-worker?" Monokuma leaned into the kitchen doorway. "I thought you'd be out there defending yourself! Assuring our dear campers that you _care_ about them, and that everything they heard was a _lie!_ Ha!"

Whipping around and ready with a retort on his lips, Reijirou froze when he saw the smug look on the bear's face. _He's trying to rile me up,_ he realized. He turned back to his task, filling one of the available picnic baskets with canned food, fresh fruit, snack foods, and everything else he could find that didn't need to be heated.

"What? Nothing to say to me? Too ashamed you didn't see this coming?!" Reijirou could hear the growing frustration in Monokuma's voice. "Hey! You can't just ignore your boss!"

 _Don't take the bait._ "I'm busy. What did you need?"

Monokuma spluttered. "You—! You—! What I _need_ is for your do your job and cause more drama!"

Only once he was satisfied with the food he'd packed did Reijirou turn around again. "I'm about to bring everyone food, so they don't _starve._ I can't cause any drama if all the students die from starvation. I'll _do_ my job. But really, you seem to be doing a fine job of making things 'interesting' yourself, so I don't really get what you need _me_ for." With that, he hooked the basket around his arm, grabbed the linen bag with the other, and headed out.

It was slow going, but finally Reijirou deposited the basket of food at the foot of the flagpole. When he recovered his breath and actually looked around, he saw the only person who remained there was Remy. "Where are the others?" Reijirou asked.

Remy looked up in thought. "I don't know where Homura and Seihiko went… same with Take. Rika's still at the cabins, I guess; Karen went to check on her. Shiori and her friends went to the barracks to start cleaning them up… I think Ikeda went with them? And Kenji's checking his garden to see if any of the vegetables are ready to harvest. I said I'd wait for him." Talking so much at once seemed to have exhausted him, because Remy just soundlessly sat beside the basket.

"Well… that was very kind of you, to wait. Maybe you two could help me with all this?" Reijirou gestured to the linen bag. "I grabbed as many blankets as I could. I was going to check some of the other buildings, but I… uh, I don't actually have keys for them…"

Just then Kenji rounded the corner of the nature center, frowning at the four or so tiny tomatoes in his hands. "I mean… we won't starve in the long run, I guess…" He looked up and saw Reijirou. "Oh."

Reijirou gave a gentle smile. "Oh indeed. Glad to see your plants are doing well."

Remy opened the basket and tossed Kenji an apple. "Mr. Saiki brought food." For good measure he picked up a second apple for himself and took a bite.

Kenji glanced at Reijirou warily as he took a bite. "Uh, thanks…"

"It's no problem," Reijirou replied. "I wasn't gonna let you all starve. Would you mind helping me bring all this to the barracks? I can do it myself, but it looks like it might rain again." He glanced up at the gray, churning sky; even the light of the rising sun couldn't penetrate the gloom.

"Fine," Kenji murmured. He soundlessly handed the tomatoes to Remy, who put them in the basket and headed off. Meanwhile Kenji grabbed the linen bag and began to slowly drag it along.

Reijirou rushed over to help with the bag. "No need to do that all on your own." Kenji gave him another look, but said nothing. Swallowing, Reijirou continued, "Look, about what you heard over the intercom—"

"It was edited to heck and back?" Kenji interrupted. "When I first heard it, I guess I believed it. But… when I thought back on it, the sentences didn't fit right. Plus Monokuma is the worst, so wouldn't he try to make the motive worse if he could? You don't have to… make a big deal of it."

Reijirou frowned. "Even out of place, those things I said don't change your opinion of me?"

"No." Kenji's cheeks were turning red, and Reijirou suspected it wasn't just from the exertion of pulling the linen bag.

Suddenly, Reijirou remembered something. _This might be an opportunity to get him to open up..._

* * *

 _Reijirou gave Kenji a moment before he spoke._

REIJIROU: I remember, back on our first day here, it seemed like you wanted to talk, but you changed your mind. So… the offer to talk is still open.

KENJI: You actually remember that?

REIJIROU: Sure. It's part of why I never bought your rudeness schtick.

KENJI: Gh…

REIJIROU: _Shoot, that came off as too harsh…_

REIJIROU: What I mean is… I get the sense that you want to connect with people, to make friends, but you're… scared. Of what, I'm not sure, and I could be off base with this…

KENJI: … You're not. You're, uh, actually completely right. Heh. It's stupid, right? I'm too afraid to get hurt again, so I try to push everyone away.

REIJIROU: ' _Hurt again?' How did he get hurt the first time?_

A: Who hurt you, and where are they so I can kick them in the shin?

B: You're right, it is stupid.

 _[C: But you haven't pushed away everyone.]_

REIJIROU: Well, you don't seem to be pushing Remy away.

 _Kenji smiled, and shook his head._

KENJI: Remy… I guess he never 'bought my schtick' either. I tried to glare at him when he sat with me, but he wouldn't leave. And, he didn't try and make me talk all the time, so I just sort of… let him be.

REIJIROU: I can picture that.

KENJI: And then he started showing up at my garden, saying he wanted to take pictures of the bugs. And, I guess… we share interests. We both appreciate nature, just in different ways. It's not… _that_ weird.

REIJIROU: You trust him. That's a wonderful thing. Having at least one person you can trust in this situation.

KENJI: I… sure. Sure.

* * *

Because he'd been so busy with preparing for the Field Day, Reijirou hadn't managed to actually visit the barracks, although he'd heard about them. As he and Kenji exited the woods, he gasped at the sight. The descriptions, while accurate, did not compare to the strange and eerie sight of the crumbling, plant covered building. Reijirou did suspect the pile of trash out by the door was new.

 _Wow, they've been busy,_ he thought as they entered the barracks. Most of the giant room was cleared of debris. Isao and Kashie were moving the metal cots into the space next to the stairs, and Shiori was sweeping bits of glass towards the door with a tree branch. Gorou seemed to be taking a break, sitting next to Remy as he ate an energy bar. They were the first to notice Reijirou and Kenji enter.

"Told you they'd catch up," said Remy, giving Gorou a small glance.

Shiori perked up and smiled when she saw them. "Oh good! Did you get everything here okay?"

"We managed," said Reijirou. "I knew we'd need more than just food, so I got a bunch of spare blankets from the laundry room."

"I wouldn't have thought of that," Isao admitted sheepishly. "I was more focused on the food and shelter thing…"

"These will be a big help." Shiori pulled one of the blankets, and started examining it. "Not just to keep warm at night, but maybe we can hang them up to make private spaces? Or as curtains for the windows!"

"I think it will depend on what we can find to keep them up," Reijirou cautioned. "I… the mess hall is the only building I have a key for, so I couldn't get anything from the art or nature centers, or the infirmary."

"We'll make it work," Gorou said curtly. He pulled the linen bag away from Reijirou. "Just make sure we have enough food. If someone dies because they were hungry and stupid enough to try breaking in to get food, I _will_ kick your ass and take whatever bullshit Monokuma saddles me with for it."

Shiori sighed and ran her hand down her face. "Gorou, please—"

"I'm going to get firewood." Gorou slipped out before anyone could say another word.

Kashie bit her lip as Gorou slammed the door. "... Isn't Ikeda already doing that?"

"Yes," Shiori sighed, then she turned to Reijirou. "I'm sorry about him; I don't know why he's so—"

"It's okay." Reijirou paused, then shook his head. "Er, well, maybe it's not, but I can deal with it."

"But I just don't get how he doesn't trust you!" Shiori objected. "He's so smart; he's gotta know that audio was fake!"

 _No… that's not what's happening,_ Reijirou thought. He remembered the look Gorou gave him when they'd talked in the kitchen after the first trial. It was the same 'gears-turning' stare he saw at the motive announcement. _He suspects something about my relationship to Monokuma. Not that I'm willing… God, he probably thinks I'm a liability, an unwilling tool to make things worse for everyone. And I can't even say he's wrong…_

"Hey." Isao's voice jolted Reijirou out of his thoughts. He realized everyone was sitting around the basket eating. Isao held out what looked like a packaged sandwich. "Have you eaten yet?"

Rejirou took the sandwich and sat. "No. Thanks for reminding me."

Shiori giggled slightly. "Geez, Mr. Saiki. You went to all this trouble to get us food, but forgot to feed yourself?"

"I was… distracted." He didn't feel like mentioning his conversation with Monokuma.

Isao didn't seem to be listening at all, instead altering between taking large bites of his sandwich and rummaging through the basket. Reijirou watched the boy out of the corner of his eye. Isao didn't take anything else, but seemed to count and recount the basket's contents. He frowned, and his leg bounced anxiously.

"Don't worry; I can always get more." Reijirou went to touch his shoulder reassuringly, but Isao flinched away, pulling his food closer to him. His wide, scared eyes screamed, _'Don't take it.'_

 _I've never seen him actually flinch like that. I wasn't even near his food…_ Reijirou froze, and suddenly he realized everyone was staring. Isao glanced around, then his face went bright red with shame. He jumped up, about to leave the tense situation, when a low roll of thunder boomed overhead.

Immediately Reijirou got up and looked out one of the windows; the gray sky looked like boiling soup, and wind whipped the trees wildly. "Is anyone else in the barracks?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the growing storm.

"No…" said Shiori, her voice trembling slightly.

"I mean, it's just some rain, right…?" Kashie asked.

"Thunderstorms are no joke," said Remy grimly.

Another crack of thunder made everyone jump. That made Reijirou's mind up. "We need to get anyone here, ASAP." The seriousness of his tone made everyone straighten up. "Shiori, Isao; go grab Gorou and Ikeda, since they'll still be nearby. Kenji, Remy; you get Rika and Karen from the cabins. Kashie, you're with me finding Seihiko, Homura, and Take. If you see lightning, try to get back quickly and stay away from the trees. If it comes to it, get down on the ground. Stick together! If we move fast we get everyone here before the rain hits!"

With that, the group moved out. As soon as they got outside Shiori and Isao split from the group and ran towards the woods. The rest ran down the path back towards the rest of camp. "Check the chapel!" shouted Kenji and he and Remy forged ahead. "The roof isn't stable, so be careful!"

"Got it!" Reijirou shouted back. He and Kashie made the turn and ran over to the chapel. It didn't take more than a quick glance around the gloomy space to see no one was there. They moved on.

They burst out of the forest just as the rain began. And it did not start with a reasonable drizzle; the clouds had released their burden all at once. Kashie pulled up her hood, and Reijirou had to bring his hand up to shield his face from the storm. Just as he did, he saw a figure running towards them.

"The hell, Teach?!" Take brought his jacket up to keep his head dry. "You said you were bringing food to the flagpole!"

Reijirou couldn't even muster the energy to be offended at Take's rudeness. "Get to the barracks before you get struck by lightning! Do you know where Seihiko and Homura are?"

Take began to sprint back the way they'd come, calling back, "No! And I don't give a fuck!"

Reijirou groaned. "Fine! Come on Kashie. Flagpole first."

Past the remains of the barn, they checked everywhere around the buildings. No one. _Damn, damn, damn!_ he thought as they rounded the final corner. _It was a long shot, but looks like we're combing the forest._

"Mr. Saiki!" Kashie had to almost shout to be heard over the window. "You sh-should use the intercom to warn everyone!"

"I'm not gonna leave you out here alone."

"I can meet up with everyone at the cabins. It won't take long and we can go back together. But we're _not_ gonna find everyone by running around like this!" Her expression was intense, and she pulled herself up to her full height. _It's easy to forget she's taller than me…_

After only a moment, Reijirou nodded. "Okay. Stay safe."

"You too." She turned around and ran into the rain.

He'd thought he'd left his office door unlocked, but when he tried to pull it open it held fast. _God, why this?_ He fumbled with his key, but managed to get the door open despite the wet.

Immediately be grabbed the intercom and switched it on. "Everyone, get inside! This storm is too big to be out in! The barracks are safe; get to them and try to stay out from under the trees!" He didn't bother hanging up the microphone as he dashed back out to meet up with everyone else.

Reijirou honestly did not know how he managed to run so fast back towards the cabins. He only slowed when he heard voices through the wind and rain, but what he was hearing…

"No! No, we can't go back yet! She ran; she's in danger and it's my fault!" Karen was desperately running towards him, away from Kenji, Remy, and Kashie. Thankfully, Reijirou managed to catch her before she ran past.

"Woah! Slow down. Where's Rika?"

Karen tried to push past him. "She ran away! She was crying when I found her at the cabins and I tried to help but I, I made everything worse…" He could feel her trembling in his grip. "I… she just wanted her bear back. And she was still mad at me; she told me to leave and I didn't! I just made stupid excuses for myself, and now she _hates_ me. She's gonna die out here and it'll be my fault—"

"Stop. Breathe." Reijirou waited for her to take a shaky breath before he continued. "Which way did she go?"

Karen seemed a bit calmer now. "The, the path past the pond…"

The others joined them then, clearly winded from chasing Karen. Remy managed to say, "So… where are we going now?"

Pausing a moment, Reijirou declared, "You all go back to the barracks. I'll get Rika. If she's as upset as you say, Karen, she might not have noticed my announcement."

Karen hesitated, but nodded. "Get her back safe. Please."

"Of course," said Reijirou, giving her his most sincere of looks. A flash of light overheard and the accompanying boom broke the moment. "Back to the barracks! If you see Seihiko or Homura, get them to come too."

"Got it," said Kenji, and the teens headed back through the rain.

Reijirou turned his sights on the path Karen had indicated. _A breakdown in a thunderstorm; isn't that dramatic? Maybe Monokuma will be satisfied with this… No, focus on getting them safe._ With that he set off.

He checked the sports shed; nothing. He checked the tower and around the pond: no sign of her. Through the gate and back into the woods he dashed, keeping an eye on the sky. He was starting to lose hope and he continued deeper into the woods. Just as the path split, he sighed in relief. _Oh, thank god she's here._

That relief quickly fled when Reijirou got a better look at Rika. She huddled underneath a hollow tree, knees pulled up to her chest. Her face was flushed, and he could see her shivering in the cold rain. What concerned him most, though, were the whispers he barely heard through the wind. "I wanna go home… Please, just take me home already. You're a wishing tree, right? I wish to go home! Take me home…" She trailed off into a keening sob.

"Rika!" He finally skidded to a halt next to her. She looked up, face wet from rain, tears, and a dripping nose. He knelt beside her and pulled her into a hug. "You're okay. Oh, thank god…"

Rika blinked in shock. "Mr. Saiki…?"

He gave one final, reassuring squeeze. "I've got you. Let's get back to the barracks." He pulled away and put a hand to her forehead. _Definitely a fever..._ "Can you walk?"

"Yeah," Rika said, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. However, when she tried to stand, she immediately wobbled and fell into him.

Reijirou caught her. "Hmm, uh-uh. That's a 'no.'"

Rika shook her head. "No; I'm not hurt, so I can still—"

"I don't care. It's raining, there's lightning, and I can carry you. It makes more sense."

Rika still looked puzzled, but she nodded. With a little bit of maneuvering, Reijirou had her securely on her back and they began the trek back.

* * *

 _With Rika on his back and the rain in his face, Reijirou had to slow his pace. For the first hunk of the journey, Rika remained silent, burying her head into his shoulder._

REIJIROU: You doing okay, Rika?

RIKA: I'm fine… but uh, could we talk about something?

REIJIROU: Sure. Did you have something specific in mind?

RIKA: No…

REIJIROU: Then, maybe I could tell you about…

A: … my class work.

 _[B: … my mom.]_

C: … my advice column job.

REIJIROU: … Growing up with my mom. I definitely have some funny stories about growing up…

RIKA: That might be nice…

REIJIROU: Let's see, where to start… Ah! I know! So, when I was about nine years old, all of my friends had bicycles, but I didn't have one yet. My mom and I didn't have a lot of money growing up. I ended up begging her for _months._ I thought I'd never get one…

RIKA: What did you have to do to get one? Did you have to do tons of chores, or beat your friends at a race, or—?

REIJIROU: _Oh, I do not like that those are your go to questions..._

REIJIROU: Well, nothing quite that dramatic. I decided to save all of my allowance until I had enough to buy one myself.

RIKA: Did you save enough?

REIJIROU: Yep. Took a while, but I did. And when I brought back my bike and showed my mom, she smiled, and told me to wait while she got something. Do you know what she had?

RIKA: What? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

REIJIROU: Another bike. An adult bike. And she said, 'I honestly never learned to ride a bicycle. I knew you'd be able to get one for yourself, but I didn't want you to have to learn on your own. Now we can learn together.' And we did.

RIKA: That's awesome… She really learned how with you? And she didn't get mad when you fell?

REIJIROU: Of course not. When either of us fell, we just laughed and got back up.

RIKA: That sounds… really nice…

* * *

They lapsed back into silence for a while. Just as they came near to the barracks, Rika asked in a whisper, "What about your dad…?"

Reijirou stopped and worked to let Rika down. "Hmm? Oh… he isn't in the picture. Left my mom after I was born. I never really knew him."

Once Rika was on the ground, she sniffled. "That's so sad… I thought everybody was supposed to have parents. They, I mean… I always thought it was just me who didn't have them…"

Reijirou frowned. "Well, everyone has a pair of people who conceive them, but no, not everyone is raised by both birth parents." He hesitated, then asked, "If it wasn't your birth parents, then who raised you?"

"My managers. Plus trainers and things…" Rika tried to take a step forward, but ended up leaning on Reijirou for support. "They said… not to call them… And! And they only gave me stuff when I did what they said! That's not right, right? I— I never realised that! They didn't love me… not like your mom loves you..."

 _Oh Rika… you deserve better…_ Gathering her up in his arms, Reijirou led her to the barracks. "Hey, it's okay. Let's get you inside so you can start feeling better."

"It's not!" Rika whined. "It's not okay! I should have parents, and you should have a dad! I wanna find your dad and kick his butt!"

"If I find out I'll send you his address," Reijirou chuckled. "As long as you promise to let me give your managers a talking-to."

"Yeah! And we can be family now!" Suddenly Rika threw her arms around Reijirou's neck. "You're better than all of them…" Then her weight suddenly slumped against him, and he realized she'd fallen asleep.

Reijirou just blinked for a second as his mind caught up with what just happened. "Well, this is…" His musing was interrupted when he sneezed. "Never mind; time to get inside." Awkwardly, he half-carried, half-dragged Rika the last little ways up the barracks stairs and in through the door.

The first thing Reijirou noticed about the room was that it was bathed in warm firelight. In a stroke of genius in his opinion, the students had used the various cans to create makeshift lights by filling them with some wood and setting them alight. _How did they light them, though?_ He was glad for the light, though, and not just because of the storm clouds. In an attempt to keep the room dry, some of the cots had been propped up to block the windows.

The second thing he saw, this time with relief, was that all of the students had gathered, in various states of blanket-wrapping. All of the members of his little search party had made it back, although they'd spread out around the space. Seihiko and Homura occupied one corner with food in hand. Ikeda flipped through some papers in the light of one of the can-lamps. Even Take was there, sitting on the stairs and whittling a branch. For a second, the scene was quiet, peaceful…

… Until Karen spotted them in the doorway. "Rika!" Immediately she ran to Reijirou, hands hovering nervously, as if unsure what to do.

Homura jumped up and screamed, "Oh my god, is she dead? Did you kill her?!"

"Homura, please…" Seihiko stood as well, putting a hand on her shoulder. To comfort her, or stop her from rushing him, Reijirou didn't know.

Still, Reijirou was taken aback by the accusation. "No? Of course not. She just has a fever."

"A fever?" Kashie echoed. "But… I mean, do we have anything to help with that?"

"And what happens if she dies of that, huh?!" Homura accused. "I'm not gonna go through another one of the… awful trial thingys because _you_ let Rika get sick!

"There's aspirin in the first aid kit! She'll be fine," said Reijirou, trying to sound reassuring, but probably only coming off as panicked. Still, he felt his heart rate slow a bit when remembered the first aid kit. _She'll be fine; we can handle this… as long as Homura doesn't decide to use me as target practice..._

Shiori jumped up and snatched one of the extra blankets. "First, though, we need to get her dry!"

Reijirou brought Rika over to where Shiori stood and gently set her down so she leaned against the wall. While Shiori wrapped her up, Isao scooted the neared can-light a bit closer. Gorou searched through the first aid kit before pulling out the bottle of aspirin. "Might as well have this ready for when she wakes up," he said.

"Good thinking." Reijirou looked back to the rest of the group. "Did everyone else make it back alright?"

Homura looked about ready to snap again, but Seihiko jumped in before she could speak. "We got back okay; we were already trying to think of a place to get out of the rain when we heard the announcement."

"Ikeda and I weren't that far, so we got back before the rain even started," supplied Gorou. Ikeda simply nodded his agreement.

At that moment, Take chuckled. "So… looks like we're all stuck here for a while. Wonder what Teach is gonna have us do now…"

"Who says he's staying?!" Homura demanded. "I don't want him anywhere near us! He might like, overhear our secrets and tell Monokuma! I mean, like, who _knows_ what sort of stuff he's said already! How do we know this isn't like, his whole plan? Get us all in one place so we can drive each other crazy so someone snaps and kills someone?!"

Shiori's face darkened. "I don't want to hear any of that! Mr. Saiki brought us all the blankets, not to mention the food—"

"You call this food?" Take countered, smirking. "It's barely enough for a day, and that's only if your boyfriend doesn't eat his fill like he usually does."

Isao stiffened. "Excuse me?"

"He's— I mean we're not—!" Shiori waved her hands in distress as her face turned beet red. "That's not the point! Mr. Saiki can bring us more. He _will_ bring us more."

"And if he does?" Seihiko asked quietly. "We still don't have air conditioning, or more clothes, or anything to do, or anywhere to stay except _this_ place. He hasn't completely negated the motive."

"Could he?" Gorou muttered. Reijirou heard it, though. He wished he hadn't.

"Look, Shiori," said Homura, good hand on her hip. "You _heard_ what he said! He praised Monokuma! He ratted us out! And he literally said 'I wanted to use peer pressure and fear!' That's not a thing a good guy says!"

Reijirou cleared his throat. "Uh… I'm willing to explain the context of that recording you heard, if you all want."

"By all means," said Ikeda. He looked so calm that Reijirou was certain Ikeda had already come to his own conclusion.

Homura narrowed her eyes. "... Go ahead."

Blinking, Reijirou slowly moved to a place he could see everyone. "Well… you probably remember that during the last trial, things got uh, heated between me and Monokuma for a moment."

"You called him a Build-a-Bear reject," Remy pointed out.

Reijirou coughed. "Right. Well, I wasn't exactly in a much better state of mind when I went back to my office. But… Monokuma, uh, likes to debrief after the trial. I, for lack of a better term, exploded, and—"

"Upupu!" Reijirou nearly jumped to the ceiling as Monokuma crashed in through one of the windows. "Now, what are my _dear_ students getting up to?"

 _Getting some god damn straight answers,_ Reijirou thought.

Of all people, it was Homura who echoed his thoughts. "Getting some actual answers about that recording out of your underling! Or is he more of a partner, huh?!" Well, sort of echoed.

Monokuma waved his paw nonchalantly. "Well, he isn't really a _partner,_ I'd say; I'm very touchy about my position of power, so there's no way I'm letting _him_ boss me around. But, I _obviously_ value his input!" _Wow, he almost sounds sincere,_ Reijirou thought, _Or as sincere as Monokuma ever sounds..._

On the turn of a dime, the bear's expression turned dark. "However, that conversation was strictly staff only! I'm honestly breaking about a hundred privacy policies playing what I did! So, no more nosing around for you!"

"So is that an actual rule?" Take asked, putting his hands into his jacket pockets, "Or just a strong recommendation?"

"You know what? Fuck it, sure! No one may share information from private meetings with staff except for _me!_ Because I'm the boss." Monokuma chuckled again and turned to Reijirou. "I mean, you _surely_ know the importance of privacy in such matters, Mr. Saiki."

Taking a moment to swallow, Reijirou managed to say, "I… would never share something from a session unless it a person was in danger…" _But now you've basically gag ordered me on that recording… I can't even tell them it was edited…_

There was a moment of silence. Homura glared in open disbelief, but several others, including Seihiko, Isao, and Karen seemed doubtful as well. Kenji, Remy, and Kashie just seemed sad. Take's smug smirk had not faded in the slightest. Ikeda was as unreadable as ever.

However, it was Shiori who broke the silence, and it was not with gentle words. Shiori fumed as she stormed right up to Monokuma. "Get out! Just leave us the hell alone! This thing you're trying to do, to get us to turn on Mr. Saiki? It's not gonna work on me! Because I've seen how much Mr. Saiki cares; he comforts people, and gives advice even when he doesn't have to, and stood up to you in the trial! I don't know what you're getting out of this scheme, but it's not gonna work, because Mr. Saiki is a good person, and is gonna _keep being a good person._ "

Reijirou's breath hitched. _Wonder how everyone will react to seeing me cry right now. God, I'm so attached… Can I even be an objective counselor anymore? Hell, given this situation, I probably never was… So what am I to them?_

Monokuma wagged a finger at Shiori. "That is no way to speak to the head of this camp!"

"We're not _in_ your camp," Gorou countered with a slight smile. "Otherwise, this building would be locked to us. Tough luck, buddy."

"Oh my god, don't take things so literally!" Monokuma sighed. "But, I've said my piece. Now, chop-chop! Time to get back to killing, ya lil' bastards! Upupu!" He jumped back out of the window and disappeared into the rain just as another flash of lightning lit the sky.

Reijirou could feel the tension in the air as Homura glared at Shiori and Shiori tried to get her breathing under control. No one else seemed willing to say anything; even Take seemed content to wait for the sparks to start flying. _If I stay, they are definitely gonna fight over whether they should trust me or not. If I can't explain myself, it'll be better to get that trust on a one-on-one basis… right?_ Making up his mind, Reijirou straightened up. "I think I'll give you all some space. I'll be right up stairs if you need me." With that he dashed up the stairs. As he did, he heard overlapping shouts.

"Wait, Mr. Saiki—!"

"You need to explain!"

"He can't—"

"I want him gone!"

Reijirou ran into the driest corner of the room, sat down hard, and covered his ears to block out the shouting. But he couldn't escape his own spiralling thoughts. _Fuck! What do I do? Everything I try ends up backfiring! I can't do this… I want to help them but I_ can't _, and what's even the point of me if I can't help?_

And thus Reijirou was lost in his anxieties for a long while. He didn't notice when the noise from downstairs quieted. In fact, he only came back to himself when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped with a tiny _'eep!'_

Ikeda crouched next to him. He raised an eyebrow.

Reijirou blushed as he tried to collect himself. "Oh! Eh-hem… Sorry you had to see that."

The boy just shrugged. "I've seen worse."

"I really wish you hadn't," Reijirou said before he could stop himself. Trying to move on quickly, he asked, "Did everyone come to a decision?"

"Well, thankfully, everyone realized pretty quickly that we can't actually _make_ you leave the building, or bring us food, or anything, so that particular subject has been dropped." Ikeda stood and leaned against the wall. "As for the matter of trust, there is a standstill. No one can decide if your actions show if you are truly trying to help us, or if they can all be framed as deceptions designed to help Monokuma in his efforts to get us to murder."

Reijirou stood as well. "If it's all the same, I think I'll stay up here a while longer. At least until the rain stops and I can go get some more food for everyone." He chuckled grimmly. "Maybe a peace offering will be enough to keep everything from exploding again."

Ikeda hummed in response. But after a moment, he added: "Perhaps we could talk, then? Have a little heart to heart?"

Reijirou's eyebrows shot up. _Is this real? The cagiest student is asking to talk? Is there a catch?_ Clearing his throat, he simply said, "Sure. Though I hope we're not just going to be talking about me. Go ahead. Shoot." _You think I'm gonna pressure you or make a big deal out of this? Think again, because I_ know _that isn't gonna work. Your move, Ikeda._

* * *

 _Ikeda seemed actually surprised by Reijirou's willingness to get started._

IKEDA: … Frankly, I wanted to discuss your work. Or rather, part of it.

REIJIROU: Like I said; shoot. I'm an open book! But, don't expect me to ramble, either.

REIJIROU: _Because you don't need distracting. You want something from me._

IKEDA: How do you read people? As you might expect, I know a great deal about this subject from my own work, but I'd like to hear how someone from a… Different discipline handles it.

REIJIROU: Well, obviously, I observe a lot. Body language, tone, all that. And of course, I take into account people's emotional state, their tendencies… Honestly, it's not super complicated. I'm sure _you_ know more about some sorts of people reading than I do.

IKEDA: I certainly know quite a lot about how to get people to talk, answer questions truthfully, give information. So on. But, that's not what you focus on, right?

REIJIROU: No… not really. If people share, I want it to be because they're comfortable with me. But I do a lot of what you could call people-reading…

IKEDA: Of course. The goals of an interrogator are not the goals of a counselor...

REIJIROU: _What exactly does he want to know how to do? What could a counselor know about reading people that an interrogator couldn't?_

REIJIROU: I guess the main difference would be...

 _[A:_ _I try to find out why people feel the way they do]_

B: I don't torture people. Not that you do!

C: My only goal is to help people. Speaking of, care to spill all your secrets?

REIJIROU: … In order to do my job, I need to have some idea _why_ people act the way they do. I don't suppose that's always necessary for an interrogator, is it.

IKEDA: No. There's some information I need, and I get it. That's it.

REIJIROU: But, knowing _why_ people do what they do can seem nice. And sure, I can use reasoning to make guesses about what events in people's past made them the way they are… But, unfortunately, in reality, it's not that easy.

IKEDA: Oh?

REIJIOU: People know themselves better than anyone else can know them. And even then, I can't say I really know everything about why I act like I do. People are complicated.

IKEDA: Unfortunate…

REIJIOU: _Sorry I can't be more reassuring… but it's nice to know you seem to want to know more about people holistically…_

* * *

There was another long pause, during which Reijirou realized the rain had finally stopped. He sighed. "Well, time to go get some more food. I'm glad you all have some fire, so I can grab stuff you can cook… how did you light them anyway?"

Ikeda responded by bringing out a small lighter. "Take has one too."

"... Great." _Hope that didn't sound too concerned. I really wish I had_ any _idea how to deal with Take._ Just as Reijirou reached the stairwell and was about to step down, he turned back to Ikeda. "I don't want to pry, but I do have one question."

"What do I think of that recording?" Ikeda smirked slightly when Reijirou nodded. "It was a chopped up edited mess. The tone of your voice doesn't' flow logically. It's clear you were feeling accused and were trying to defend yourself. Monokuma simply removed the parts that make that clear."

Reijirou's heart lifted a bit. "Do you plan to tell the other students that?"

Ikeda shifted, looking almost unsure, though his smile did not fade. "I could, but it will not convince the people who are already inclined to distrust you."

"You mean Homura," Reijirou said.

"I'm sure you can guess why," Ikeda replied, his smile seeming more forced than before. "I think she would conclude I'm a spy for you and Monokuma, or some other nonsense."

"At this point I'll take the suspicion if it means the rest of you can trust each other." _I'm not exactly happy about it, but them not trusting me isn't gonna lead to a murder… hopefully._

With that Reijirou headed down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he simply said, "I'll be back with more food. And I cooking pan if I can carry one."

Everyone tensed up when he spoke. No one said a word, though Shiori nodded gratefully from where she sat. Homura glared, though it seemed a bit sulkier than before.

Reijirou took his leave. _Please just hold on everyone. Don't let this get to you. If we can just hold on, maybe Monokuma will give up on this motive… God, I hope so…_ But even as he thought it, Reijirou's gut seemed to be slowly sinking into the muddy ground as he made the lonely trek through the woods.

* * *

 _It's done! Finally! Writers block might be awful sometimes but I got through it, and now we're moving right along with all the Feels you could desire. As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, vote on any polls in my profile, feel free to join the discord linked in my profile, and I'll see ya'll next time!_


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